彼岸花 Higanbana
by Tsun-sama
Summary: The story of Sasuke and Hinata, two childhood friend fell in love with each other as they grow older. When everything was going so well, fate played a cruel twist upon them, it was just a matter of time.
1. First meeting in Autumn

It's been a while since I've written any fics at all! I hope my writing isn't too confusing to understand :( I tried looking for a decent short story about Lycoris, the only one I liked was the one from Wiki... apologies for spelling errors and grammatical mistakes.

Enjoy!

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><p><span>彼岸花<span>

" _When the flowers of lycoris bloom, their leaves would have fallen; when their leaves grow, the flowers would have wilted...There was a legend of two elves: Manju, who guarded the flower and Saka, who guarded the leaves. Out of curiosity, they defied their fate of guarding the herb alone, and managed to meet each other. At first sight, they fell in love with each other. God, exasperated by their waywardness, separated the miserable couple, and laid a curse on them as a punishment: the flowers of Manju shall never meet the leaves of Saka again." -Wikipedia_

_ Prologue _

Patches of burnt hazel leaves from the maple trees, drizzled down upon the dried grass as fall approaches around the corner. Flowers started to witter as the weather was getting colder. A tired man buried under his own futon was enjoying the last moment of autumn.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" he said in a husky weak voice. The woman next to him crawled her way to his side.

"Yes" she replied.

"Somehow, everything looks so beautiful when you realize you won't see it again." He smiled and gazes outside.

"Father." the daughter held his wrinkled hands together tightly, she could feel the warmth gradually leaving him. She couldn't help but tremble in the fear of loosing him.

"I really hope I could see my grandchild before I go. That is the only thing I wish for." he gently pat her hands. There was a moment of silence then, words wasn't needed to describe their emotions. His daughter closed her eyes and cried silently to herself as she shed a tear for her dying father.

"I'm very sorry, Hinata."

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><p>Autumn has arrived unannounced early this year, tangerine leaves detached themselves away from the branch as their stems dried without moisture. Such a beautiful scenery set right in front of everyone's eyes, was ignored. Their minds were occupied with other things. Young Ucihha prodigy practiced diligently with his tutor, he swung his weapon as if it was part of him, he was taught that way.<p>

"Very good, young master." his tutor complimented him with a thin smile. Their training was cut short with an outburst.

"Big brother!" a boy about twice the age younger then him sprinted towards his brother with joy in his face.

"Welcome back, young master." his tutor greeted the younger boy.

"Look what I learned in class today!" the young boy pulled out a carefully folded piece of paper under his sleeves. He had learned calligraphy in class today, it was obvious he hasn't mastered any skills with such unreadable writing, but his brother smiled with pride to see he has improved greatly.

"Good work, Sasuke." he gently patted his head.

"Sasuke." a low cold voice called out to him. Sasuke felt a cold chill crawled up his spine, he recognized that voice. As he turned around, he could see his father with his arms crossed over his chest, staring back at him with a strict glare.

"F-Father." the boy stutter in fear of seeing his father.

"Stop disturbing your brother." Sasuke adjusted his attention away from his father, his father was giving off too much of a monstrous vibe for a child to look back.

"Your mother's looking for you." Fugaku returned back into the manor. Sasuke didn't dare to lift his head up until the presence of his father disappeared.

"It's okay Sasuke, we'll play some other time." Itachi comforted his younger sibling with a warm smile. Sasuke quickly recovered and nodded cheerfully as he skipped off to find his mother. Itachi continued with his training.

"Were you looking for me?" Sasuke's squeaky voice asked. His mother had her back towards him and then turned to her son when he spoke to her.

"Welcome back."Mikoto was sitting across the low table in a formal position; as all aristocrats were taught with proper etiquette and posture.

"What is it?" he took a seat across to his mother.

"I have a friend I would like you to meet." she smiled. Sasuke was oddly suspicious about this person.

"Hinata-chan, why don't you come in?" Mikoto whispered towards the door. A small fragile girl peeped out from behind the door. She looked more like a blind kitten than a child around Sasuke's age.

"Don't be shy." Mikoto urged her to come out from her hiding ground. Hinata obediently did as she was told. She tucked her shoulders close to her body and hands locked with each finger. The poor girl was frightened. She was wearing a snow white kimono with yellow petals trailing near the sleeves, as well as hues of blue faint patches around to make it more expensive.

"Sasuke, I would like you to meet Hinata." Mikoto got off her chair and down to the same height as the children, then introduced Hinata to him.

"G-Good afternoon." Hinata greeted with an insecure look on her face.

"Hinata's the daughter of your father's acquaintance, so please be nice to her, okay?" said Mikoto.

"She's so ugly." Sasuke boldly said. Hinata's chubby cheeks inflated, she looked down at her toes to with shame.

"Sasuke! Don't be so rude!"

Hinata pulled onto Mikoto's dress and looked up with watery eyes.

"It's okay, I'm used to it." Hinata smiled back with her rosy cheeks.

"Alright. Now _please_ be nice to her." Mikoto gently brush Hinata's hair off her face and went out of the room. The two children stood there and just stared at each other with little or any fascination, Sasuke was staring at her eyes, like a game, he was trying to look for her pupils. Hinata on the other hand tried to avoid eye contact. She was feeling more nervous than she thought.

"Why are you so scared?" Sasuke asked.

"I-I'm not." Hinata replied.

"If you're not, then why are you stuttering?" Sasuke pointed out again.

"I-It's just a habit of mine..."Hinata mumbled.

"Hmmmmm..."

"..."

"What's wrong?" Sasuke asked.

"N-nothing." she replied. Sasuke wasn't interested in anything else about her, except the fact that she is betrothed to his brother.

"How old are you?" Sasuke took a sat back down. As he did so, Hinata planted herself to where Mikoto sat awhile ago.

"4." she replied.

"I'm older by a few months, so you'll have to respect me!" Sasuke said arrogantly.

"Since I'm the oldest, I'm surely stronger than you...until I get to big brother's age, I'll be the toughest ninja in Konoha!" Sasuke had his arms by the sides of his hips and boasted with pride.

"I want to be a great ninja too, a very strong ninja who's not afraid of anything!" she said with much enthusiasm.

"Hinata-chan, your caregiver Ko's here to pick you up." Mikoto called out. Without hesitation, Hinata followed Mikoto.

"Thank you very much for today." She bowed to Sasuke before leaving, and Sasuke was left alone.

"Hnnn, weird girl..."

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><p>Approximately 5 years has passed. Hinata has visited the Uchiha household frequently, as her father ordered her to. Her relationship with Sasuke has gotten closer as time passed as well, since they spent so much time together.<p>

"Argh!" Sasuke spread himself onto the tatami mats like a dead body ready to be dumped into the sea of misery. Hinata sat next to him like a doll, with her legs folded and crossed under herself. As time past, they have also grown. Sasuke's hair has grown longer, and has grown taller in height as well.

"I'm so sick of father always looking down at me." he began sulking.

"I'm sure that isn't true, Uchiha-sama just has high expectations towards you." Hinata said in a soft voice. She haven't changed much during these years, her hair remained the same bob cut. The only difference was her height. She has also matured tremendously, compared to Sasuke.

"It's still not fair...hey, let's go out. Sitting here idly isn't gonna help." Sasuke jumped off the tatami mat and dragged Hinata outside.

"W-Wait!" Hinata's protest wasn't much of a resistance. They made their way to their own secret play ground not far from the city central. Such behaviors weren't tolerated if the adults find out, but since they haven't been caught even once, they were confident they won't be caught this time either. Sasuke held Hinata close to him, he looked around to make sure everyone was occupied with their jobs and then made a run for it.

The two soon arrived the main street. It is usually crowded by this time of the day, anyone can easily get lose between the crowds.

"Stay close to me okay." Sasuke held onto her hand tightly.

"Yes." she answered. Her soft fingers curved tighter around Sasuke's fingers, like hooks tangled together. Passing and squeezing through obstacles of villagers rushing all over the places, Sasuke and Hinata managed to make it across the other side of the street. They arrived in front of a wooden fence. First, Sasuke crawled in first while Hinata watch keep a watch out, then joined him after he gave a small signal. Behind the fence hid a secret forest. The trees shed most of the sunlight away, cool air and the occasional breeze.

"See, it's more relaxing there, no one to tell us what to do." The two made their way to a bolder, just the right angle for a nice nap.

"It certainly is." Hinata joined him and shut her eyes, enjoying the surrounding silence. None of them spoke for a moment, they were fully absorbed and blocked everything else outside of their own little world. A small rustle came from the bushes, Sasuke was the first to be alert.

"Who's there?" there was no reply.

"Hey, Hinata, I think there's something behind the bushes." Sasuke nudged her shoulder.

"Check it out with your Byakugan!" he insisted. Hinata woke up rubbing her eyes.

"O-Okay." she closed them back and reopened again with veins popping from her skin.

"So, what did you see?" Sasuke was impatiently curious, his eyes focused at Hinata without blinking, he held on to Hinata's sleeves the entire suspension.

"It's just a rabbit." Hinata deactivated her Byakugan.

"Were you...afraid?" Hinata asked him in a mocking tone. Sasuke blushed, his focused gaze quickly turned away, letting go of Hinata's arm.

"No I wasn't! I just thought _you _might get scared...hmph." Little arrogant Sasuke he is. Hinata giggled sweetly, she made her way towards the bush and drew something from behind. A small snow rabbit, probably a baby rabbit hung with it's feet and little paws swaying back and forth; Hinata held it by it's ears.

"It hurt it's leg...poor thing." she rowed it close to her arms and rested it close to her chest.

"It's such a sweet heart." the rabbit was trembling, Hinata gently pat it's head to try keep it calm.

"What are we gonna do with it?" Sasuke stood afar with his arms crossed.

"of course we have to keep it, until it can walk again." Hinata set it on the soft grass, the rabbit could barely walk, let alone hop.

"poor thing, it's probably just a baby..." Hinata was clearly sadden.

"You must feel lonely don't you?" she started stroking it's head, while her mind was idling somewhere else.

Without a word, Sasuke pulled out a handkerchief from his pocket and wrapped it around the rabbit's leg.

"It should help." Hinata looked into his coal eyes, and Sasuke shy away.

"You didn't wrap it properly." she set the rabbit into Sasuke's without notice and started re-wrapping the wound.

"It's time to go home." Sasuke looked up into the citrus color sky.

"I'll come back again tomorrow okay?" Hinata gently pat it's head again and crawled out with Sasuke.

The next day, sadly, the rabbit did not make it. When Sasuke and Hinata returned, the found a puddle of blood surrounded a chewed up rabbit carcass. It's snow white fur stained in it's own blood and dirt. There were evidence of a dog might have found their secret hiding play ground and killed it, since the hole was big enough for an average size stray to enter. Hinata was devastated, but her face didn't show and signs of crying or frowning, just pale and frozen. Sasuke gaped his mouth, but nothing came out, probably a wise choice. Hinata didn't eat or sleep for the past few days, she haven't even spoken a word either. Sasuke grew worried, if she continues to torture herself like this, the blame would be set on him too.

Mikoto brought Sasuke to the Hyuuga household, hoping to visit her.

"Hinata-sama is unwell today, she apologizes for the trouble she has caused." Ko, Hinata's caregiver came over for the message.

"Please send my concerns, I hope she'll feel better soon." Mikoto sends her concerns.

Sasuke had been hiding behind her mother, like a true ninja, sneaked past Ko and his mother into the main entrance, the he hoped he could find Hinata.

Since it was his first time, in so many years entering the Hyuuga mansion, he had no idea where he should go.

"Now where could she be...omph!" Sasuke wasn't paying attention to the direction he was going, he had just walked into someone.

_I'm caught!_

He thought. Sasuke held his arms in a defensive position and braced himself for the worse, but nothing happened.

"oh my, are you hurt?" a gentle voice called out to him, he felt a cold and slender fingers curled around his wrist. Slowly, he looked up and met eye contact with a beautiful woman. She looked weak, has violet hair with matching hint of pale lavender Byakugan, she looked awfully similar to Hinata.

"Nnnn, I'm fine." Sasuke answered back softly.

"Where do you come from little boy?" the woman asked with a smile.

"I-I'm Uchiha Sasuke...I'm looking for Hinata." she was indeed beautiful, even making the obnoxious Sasuke stutter.

"You're here to see Hinata-chan? What a pleasant surprise. I'm sure she will be glad to see you. Hinata-chan isn't feeling well these days, I wonder what's wrong...come with me." she held up Sasuke's little hand and guided him through the mansion.

"Hinata-chan, there's someone here to see you." she softly knocked on the sliding door. Sasuke heard footsteps approaching them, the door then slid open. Hinata looked awfully pale and weak, the peach colors had drained from her face.

"Mother...N-Naruto-kun?" she asked in a meek voice. Sasuke twitched when he heard the name Hinata called wasn't his.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"I-I'm fine..."

"why don't you join Hinata inside, I'll prepare some tea...Sasuke-kun, I have a feeling you didn't come here alone...I'll notify your mother. Why don't you join us for dinner as well?" Hinata's mother offered.

"If it's not too much trouble." Sasuke quickly accepted. Hinata's mother left the room.

"Your mum's really pretty." he gave a thumbs up.

"I-If you're trying to cheer me up, it's not working." Hinata didn't even smile.

"At least I'm trying..." Sasuke sulked.

"Are you sad about the rabbit?" Hinata kept quiet.

"It's just a rabbit." Sasuke sat across Hinata with his legs folded. Sasuke could tell from Hinata's expression, the mess from that dead rabbit had traumatized her.

"My brother, Itachi, said...we're ninja's, little things like death should not bother us! You said so yourself, you want to be a ninja who's not afraid of anything, and now you're afraid of a dead rabbit?" Sasuke raised his voice with frustration.

"I'm scared." Hinata's eyes instantly flooded with tears. For the first time in Sasuke's life, he saw Hinata cried.

"I'm scared...every time I shut my eyes, I remembered the time I was abducted by the cloud ninjas a few years ago. That dead rabbit reminded me of the death of my uncle, Hizashi. ." it's natural for a 9 year old to be scared, it's very normal to be afraid. Sasuke let out a sigh of relief. He shuffled closer to Hinata, who couldn't stop crying.

"I'll protect you." he held her head close to his chest, tightly embracing her close to him.

"I'll protect you when you feel afraid, I'll be right next to you when you need help!" Hinata bit her bottom lip, she buried her face in Sasuke's clothes, soaking them in tears. Hinata didn't stop crying until the sun was about to set. Her appetite quickly came back, she started eating properly during dinner.. Hinata's mother requested for Sasuke to spend the night at the Hyuuga's, as gratitude to Sasuke. Hinata's mother spread out an extra futon next to Hinata's, the two of them fell asleep immediately. She couldn't help but smile at the sigh of her child sleeping in complete serene, so innocently ignorant about the outside world. The two were holding hands, one on top of another. The feeling of being protected by Sasuke made a smile crawled upon Hinata's lips.

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><p>Thanks for reading!<p> 


	2. Dead Winter

Hello! here's chapter 2! so much angst lol...please bear with my grammatical mistakes, thanks!

Enjoy!

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><p>There were dead bodies, just corps lying everywhere.<p>

"Father! Mother!" Sasuke called out to his parents. The Uchiha district has been deserted with rotting corps... Afriad, he sprinted towards his house. Stench of blood wouldn't leave his nose, he could feel the aura of living was absent in the room. Sasuke's trembling hands and sweaty palms pushed the door opened. In front of him laid two dead bodies stacked on top of another. His mother laid there lifelessly under his father, who had his arms cut off. Sasuke was too shocked to move his body. A vague shadow slowly approached him.

"I-Itachi..." he saw, in Itachi's hand held a blade smeared in blood.

"Such a pity."

"Poor boy, I heard he is the sole Uchiha survivor."

"Have mercy!"

Loud whispers can be heard from the mouths of nosy village aunties. Sasuke couldn't stand their voice, so high pitched and full of false concerns. He hated it... Everyone in Konoha had been invited to the funeral of the Uchihas. The Hyuugas paid their respect when it was their turn. Hiashi and his wife each placed a white lily in front of the grave of Uchiha Fugaku and Mikoto. Hinata did the same with Hanabi following her lead. They bowed after the flowers was set and returned to their position.

"_Foolish little brother, if you wish to kill me, hate me, detest me. And yet survive in an unsightly way. Run, run and cling to life, and when you have the same eyes as mine, come to me._"

those words wouldn't stop repeating in Sasuke's head, like a recorder with a broken stop button.

Sasuke clinched his fist tightly, his hatred grew after every replay of Itachi's quote in his mind. He wanted revenge, and he wanted it immediately.

"I'm sorry for your lost..." The third went over to Sasuke.

"The Hyuuga's have agreed to let you stay with them until you are independent...May you have the best of luck, Sasuke-kun." then he walked away.

Sasuke hated this feeling of unwanted and weak. He didn't want to stay with the Hyuugas either, even with Hinata around, he felt hopeless. But being stubborn wasn't the way to avenge his family, even if it means to lower his head to another person. He hid all his pride away, and walked back towards the Hyuugas.

"I'll be in your care from now on." Sasuke bowed with respect to Hiashi and his family. Hiashi stood still with his arms hidden under his sleeves, and a cardigan over his shoulders in a lazy yet intimidating manner.

"You will live according to the Hyuuga's rules and _my_ rules...if you disobey any of them, brace yourself for the consequences."

"Yes, I understand." Sasuke kept his head low. The atmosphere had gotten cold and eerie, a storm was approaching. After a moment of silent, Hiashi gave a signal to his family that it's time to return. Hinata looked back at Sasuke who was starting at his family's grave.

"Give him some time along, Hinata." her mother whispered to her. Hinata couldn't imagine the feeling of lost greater than the one she had. Their 5 year friendship seemed to be nothing but a dream, Hinata realized she did not understand Sasuke at all.

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><p>A spacious room had been prepared for Sasuke. Thanks to Hiashi's wife's request for a room of her choice, Sasuke can stay by himself without having to share with the servants.<p>

Days past and Sasuke's personality had turned 180 degrees around. He spoke less and seldom plays with friends, but he still express his concerns for Hinata. It had been a few months since Sasuke started living with the Hyuugas. Every night during tuition; Hinata's mother offered to tutor the children at night, Hanabi sat at the corner reading story books while Hinata's mother helped Hinata and Sasuke with school work. Her mother was paler than Sasuke could remember, her eyes looked bloodshot and tired, but she was still beautiful. Every now and then, she couldn't help but coughed, she has indeed became frail. She spotted Sasuke staring at her in details, but only to smiled back.

"Why don't we have a little break? I'll make supper." Hinata, who had been sitting very still like a porcelain doll sprung up with joy when she heard her mother was going to cook. She smiled at Sasuke, but Sasuke didn't even held his head back up. Hinata's smile gradually faded away.

"Let's go." Hinata's mother was holding on to Hanabi's hand with her fragile fingers. She was adorable, rosy cheeks and fair skin. Almost identical to Hinata if it wasn't for her brown hair. Hinata trailed behind her mother, followed by Sasuke.

Hinata's mother set Hanabi on a chair, to keep her still, she gave her a wooden spoon to play with. Hinata and Sasuke on the other hand sat across Hanabi.

"What would you like to eat, Sasuke-kun?" the mother asked.

"I'm not hungry." Sasuke stared at the table soulless. A loud roar came from his stomach, but even that didn't made Sasuke feel embarrassed than he already had, bowing down to other for survival.

"Your stomach is telling another story." Hinata's mother bent down next to him. She lifted his face and looked into his eyes.

"Why don't I make you something special...I know just the right food to make you feel better." she gently stroked his hair off his face and proceed making supper. Hinata didn't leave her attention from Sasuke, the whole time her mother was busy cooking, she stared at him, and Sasuke stared at nothing.

"Here you go." she set a bowl of _Oyakodon _in front of him. (Oyakodon in Donburi dish name which means 'parent-and-child-donburi') The thought of family made his heart wince in pain even more, like thousand of needles pierced through him slowly. He pushed the bowl away carelessly and ran out of the kitchen.

"Sasuke!" Hinata ran after him as soon as she saw him jumped off the chair.

"H-Hinata-" Hinata had gone after him.

Sasuke kept running and running, but no matter how fast or far he ran, he could never escape the fence that imprisoned reality.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" his lungs expanded, his throat would rip, but he didn't care.

Let them rip, tear and bleed for all he cared.

A pair of small fragile arms trapped him and pulled him back. He felt something warm and wet against his back. Hinata hid her face from his sigh. Sasuke stopped screaming and looked down at Hinata's trembling hands. Shaking, but they remained secure around Sasuke, no doubt she was crying.

"It's okay you still have father and mother (referring to her own)." Hinata mumbled. Sasuke, annoyed ripped Hinata's arms away from him and pushed them away.

"I want _my_ parents back!"

Hinata knew this feeling was far greater and more painful than the time she lost her uncle. Sasuke's clan had been destroyed, all in just one night.

"I'm sorry...I'm sorry." she wiped the tears off her face with her yukata. The Uchihas were close to her, especially Mikoto. She was like a second mother to Hinata, she treated her like her own daughter she had always wanted. Sasuke declined Hinata's arms away again, reluctantly. He looked at her with nothing but revenge in his eyes. Hinata felt afraid, not because of his hatred glare, she's afraid because she knew, the Sasuke she grew up with had started to fade away.

"Let's go back." Hinata held his hand loosely, leading him back to the kitchen.

Hinata's mother was severely worried about the two, she wished she chased after them earlier, if anything happened, she wondered herself what she would do. Her sight hadn't leave the entrance, she kept staring without blinking. Soundless footsteps entered the room.

"M-Mother..." Hinata was first to enter, followed by Sasuke. Hinata's mother threw herself towards the two.

"I'm sorry Sasuke, I wasn't trying to insult you..." she stroked the tear stains off his cheeks.

"I just want you to remember, no matter where your parents are, they will always be there for you...right here." she prodded Sasuke's chest.

"I apologize for my previous rude behavior, please forgive me."

"It's alright...now quickly eat, or else the donburi will get cold." Hinata sat back on her seat and Sasuke followed. The two quietly ate their supper. Sasuke hated to admit, but that was the best donburi he had ever tasted, the taste of a mother's love. Guilt stabbed his heart, he had insulted Hinata's mother by accident. With the remaining emotions he had left in him, he ate with his head down in embarrassment.

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><p>After that night, Sasuke had been keeping up with his studies more diligently than before. His grades that used to be at par with Hinata had surpassed her, now he had advanced to personal training with Hiashi in taijutsu.<p>

"Since you are not a Hyuuga, it will be difficult for you to learn our taijutsu style...I will teach you the basics." Hiashi wasn't as heartless and cold as others viewed him. As the leader of the Hyuuga clan, he must keep up with a fearless reputation, he must not show weakness or kindness to rule-breakers, he must put a mask on for the sake of his clan. Sasuke stood in position, feet stable on the ground, legs firmly apart in balance, his arms spread around equivalently, one near his stomach and the other holding a kunai further from his chest.

Hiashi first threw shurikens, at then came the kunais, Sasuke dodged the shurikens, then decided to repel the kunais away. As soon as the projectiles flew away, Hiashi took a step forward, like gliding, he appeared in front of Sasuke and gave a halfhearted punch, just powerful enough. Sasuke blocked the punch just in time with his forearms in a 'x' shape. The force sent him backwards, while still in a steady stance. Sasuke quickly recovers, he jumps at Hiashi and sends a few blow at him. But typically, Hiashi just simply stood aside and dodged it with ease. Sasuke fell uncontrollable to the hard ground, scrapped his knee and elbow. Sasuke wasn't about to give up yet, if he can't even leave a single scratch on Hiashi, he's still far from near defeating Itachi. They spared for a little longer until the housekeeper interrupted.

"Pardon my interruption sir...but there's something I have to tell you." the housekeeper was quite old, his back was slightly arched with his hands under his sleeves.

"Wait here." said Hiashi. Sasuke was standing too far to eavesdrop, he could only guess from the expression of Hiashi and the housekeeper's expression. Hiashi squeezed his eyebrows together, his face was in a state of shock, eyes popped and lips parted, the colors from his tanned skin has drained along with his sense. Before the housekeeper could finish, Hiashi was already half way of the corridors. Sasuke grew curiouser, what would make Hiashi, _the _Hyuuga Hiashi make such an expression. The housekeeper spotted Sasuke and walked slowly towards him.

"Master Sasuke, I'm afraid training will have to be suspended for now, may I advise you to return to your room for the time being." Sasuke nodded. The whole mansion became quiet and empty, the were no signs of anyone. Something wasn't right, he could feel it. After spending some time at the Hyuugas, he memorized every route to every room. Sasuke walked past the kitchen, no one was around, then the meeting hall, no one. He had a thought about the elders, maybe one of them had past away, he remembered one of them being especially weak and old, almost blind. Quickly, he ran towards the elders' division, but as he past, he spotted a ray of light from Hiashi's bedroom. Curiosity got the better of him, thus he took a peek. Surprised, almost every Hyuuga was in that extraordinary large room. He scanned the room, they were all surrounding something, or maybe someone? most of the maids were sobbing and comforting each other. Hiashi had his back to Sasuke, Hinata and Hanabi next to him. Sasuke could tell by Hiashi's broad shoulders, he was crying. The suspension was killing him from the inside, he wanted to know what was going on, he lost his balance and fell inwards. Sasuke's body was flung into the room, everyone turned their attention to him. Sasuke looked up. He had landed right in the gap between Hinata and Hanabi. A hand, cold and still. He looked up. Hinata's mother was lying in bed, her eyes were shut, there wasn't any color left on her skin. Sasuke was still confused, he payed closer attention to her. She wasn't breathing. Hinata looked down at him, her face had multiply layers of tear stains, her eyes bruised from crying, and face red as a tomato. Sasuke thought she was going to say something, but Hinata kept her lips sealed and looked back at her mother. Hinata had been holding onto her mother's hand the entire time. Hiashi had been holding on to a piece of paper, crumpled up in his grip.

"Mother...is gone." Sasuke had never saw Hinata so emotionless when she said those words. Sasuke felt a punch in his gut. He knew then, will never be able to taste that donburi again, he will never be able to experience that feeling of a mother's love again. And he had lost another family member.

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><p>I'm writing chapter 3 now, please look forward to it :)<p> 


	3. Everything blooms in Spring

My apologies for the late update, I was distracted, hehe...

I'm sorry if it's coming up slowly, I'll try speeding it up next time :)

I'm not trying to bash Ino and Sakura, but this is what I believe they would act before Naruto... so please play along :) also thank you everyone for the reviews! it keeps me motivated :)

Enjoy!

p/s: again, sorry for the grammatical mistakes and spelling...

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><p>A year has past and Sasuke had moved out since the death of Hinata's mother. Some of the older generations blamed her death on Sasuke, they accused him being jinxed. Hiashi on the other hand did not. He promised Sasuke to support him financially until he becomes a Chunnin, but Sasuke declined the offer. Instead, he accepted a pension from the Hokage. Sasuke moved into an apartment nearby, the rent was cheap and the room was decent. Sasuke had started packing, he would leave after supper, as Hiashi requested him to stay until then.<p>

Everyone ate quietly, Sasuke noticed an empty between Hinata and Hanabi, who had grown stronger considerately.

"It seems Neji's not coming." Hiashi took a sip of his soup.

"I-It seems like he's busy with training, he said he will v-visit you later."Hinata mumbled. Sasuke braced for something expected, but nothing happened. Whenever Hinata mumbled, Hiashi would lecture her about confidence, but this time, he completely ignored her.

"Hanabi, finish your meal and meet me in my room later, we'll discuss about tomorrow's training." Hiashi set his utensils on the table and walked away. It felt, tense. Hiashi has changed too, for the better or worse, no one knew. Hanabi quickly shove the last piece of dumpling in her throat and followed her father.

Hinata looked down at her bowl of rice, she was left alone. Hiashi had spent less time training with Hinata, and more time with Hanabi instead. He decided Hinata couldn't prove herself strong enough, he gave up on her, as a ninja and as a daughter. Sasuke lowered his view to Hinata's level, she looked spaced out and sadden. Sasuke breathed out with a one side smirk on his face.

"Here." with his chopsticks, he gave Hinata a piece of salmon he was saving later.

"N-No, it's okay..." Hinata politely declined.

"I'm full anyways." Sasuke put on a fake frown on his face. As Sasuke's only childhood friend, she knew Sasuke best. He always leave the best for last, and having smoked salmon for dinner was his request in the first place. Hinata halved the salmon with her chopsticks, she returned the other half to Sasuke.

"We'll share." she smiled and continued her meal.

"Heh." Sasuke sat back up and finished the last piece of delicious salmon on his plate.

Dusk was on it's way, Hinata decided to help Sasuke pack his belongings.

"Please take care of your body, remember to eat and rest well." Hinata helped Sasuke pack, every shirt were ironed the night before.

"I'll be fine. You should take care of yourself too." The two sat behind each other, that laid-back atmosphere returned to it's awkwardness. Even when talking, Sasuke and Hinata did not dare to look into each others eyes. Hinata felt strange and unease around Sasuke, she did not blame her mother's death on Sasuke like the others, but she felt sympathy and guilt was eating her alive. Sasuke on the other hand blamed himself for the death of Hinata's mother, he believed if he noticed her health earlier, she wouldn't have died.

"Here." Hinata handed him a stack of neatly folded clothes.

"Aa." he nodded, then started carefully packed into his luggage. Hinata and Sasuke walked to the entrance together, not a single word was spoken through the journey.

"I...guess this is goodbye." Sasuke's words sounded eternal, he was just living a few blocks away, but that was not how Hinata felt.

"P-Please don't say it like that." Hinata stuttered. Her stuttering habit started just recently, she was loosing confidence in herself. Sasuke was the reason of her stutter, he gave her confidence, but also stripping it down at the same time.

"Here." Sasuke drew out a spare key from his pocket, Hinata accepted it with both hands.

"You can come by anytime. It's not the end of the world." Sasuke forced a smile on his face, it broke his heart to see his childhood friend make such a face. Hinata was looking at him with sorrowful eyes, she had been suffering for so long, it would be so cruel for someone so close to her leave now. She remembered his promise, he promised her he would stay by her side when she needed a shoulder to cry one, but sadly, the bond between the two had continuously crippled, and their promise was not strong enough to last. Sasuke could almost read her mind, he knew all about her thoughts.

"I won't break my promise, so please don't look at me like that." he spoke in a soft voice. Hinata held the key close to her and nodded.

"S-Sasuke, we're best friends forever, right?" her eyes was full with pearls of tears. Sasuke quickly nodded in agreement. The old Sasuke did not disappear as Hinata suspected, she sensed honesty in his tone.

"Ya...Forever." Sasuke held out his right arm and pointed his last finger out. Hinata wiped her tears away and hooked with hers, their pinky curled and locked together.

"Hinata-sama, Hiashi-sama summons you." A boy, a year or two older than Sasuke and Hinata stood by the pavement. Neji is Hinata's cousin, he reminded him a lot of Sasuke himself, his eyes full of revenge and hatred. They met a few times passing the corridors, but had never spoke to each other before. Sasuke and Hinata finally bid goodbye, the farewell wasn't as depressing as she imagined, she knew her friendship with Sasuke will not break that easily, he is part of the family.

Hinata's feeling was no longer his number one priority, the first was to avenge his family. His hatred grew stronger, his only reason of living was to gain power, he needed power to kill Itachi. But every time he looked into her eyes, so innocent, weak but determined, he could not bring himself to ignore her feelings, she was and will forever be first priority in his heart. Hinata followed Neji back in after Sasuke walked further away.

Sasuke had unpacked most of his belongings, the last piece from Sasuke's bag, a picture of both his mother, Mikoto and Hinata's with the two children, happily laughing. Itachi took that photo for them, which is why he kept it. Looking at the picture fuel his drive of hatred towards Itachi, and those who look down at him. At the same time, it keeps it sane, remembering the times he spent with Hinata, laid back and worries free.

"I'm coming for you Itachi, just you wait..."

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><p>The day Sasuke anticipated arrived, the day he had graduated the academy.<p>

"Sasuke, c-congratulations." Hinata went over to Sasuke's apartment to celebrate. It doesn't feel special for Hinata to be at Sasuke's apartment, she often visit him, and even offer to clean and cook for Sasuke. They had cake and a few finger food prepared enough for the two of them, Hinata wanted to invite others as well, but Sasuke stubbornly refused. Those academy days, officially over. Though, Sasuke did enjoy the times he had to team up with Hinata for shuriken training, but effortlessly a girl would interrupt. And through out those years, Sasuke realized Hinata acting awfully shy around Naruto, his sworn arch-nemesis. He's loud, obnoxious, and everything opposite to Sasuke. Every time in class, Naruto would be the one who came late, always sent to the Hokage's office, and never EVER learn from the pranks he did to the whole of Konoha. When ever Sasuke trained in the woods, Naruto would be there training his ninjutsu, and _somewhere _behind a tree, hid Hinata, staring at Naruto at daze as if he was Hercules. Sasuke paid more attention to him, because of Hinata of course.

"What's the need to celebrate? We just graduated from the academy, we still have a long way to go." Sasuke took a sip of green tea, since he hated sweet.

"B-But I think you d-deserve it, Sasuke. You achieved top in class! I-I couldn't do it no matter how h-hard I tried..." Hinata had her legs folded and was sitting across Sasuke, she looked down at her fidgeting fingers.

"That's because you don't have the slightest confidence...more tea." Sasuke drank the last drop and asked for more.

"I-I couldn't help it..." carefully, she pours tea into Sasuke's cup.

"If only a portion of confidence from all those annoying girl could be given to you, you'll be the perfect human being." Sasuke paused and realized he almost confessed to her, but knowing Hinata, she just giggled and wouldn't thought of it as just a compliment to make her feel better.

"I-I'm sure they're not that bad...w-what about Haruno-san? She seems nice, she qualified to all of your requirements. L-Long hair, strong, confident, and she's very cute." Sasuke was getting annoyed, he only made up the whole 'liking-girls-with-long-hair' part so those girls would leave Hinata out of their rivalry list.

"You crazy? She talks too much, and very violent." Sasuke laid back against his bedside. Hinata was trying to butter about Sakura because she knew Naruto had a crush on her, Naruto tried every possible plans to impress the cherry head, but all plans failed miserably.

"E-Every girl can be a little violent." Sasuke was right, Sakura is a pink hulk when it comes to Naruto. They two chuckled, Sasuke only chuckled in front of Hinata, no one was worthy enough to see or hear him laugh without worries.

_Knock, Knock..._

"Someone's at the door." Hinata panicked. Sasuke raised an eyebrow, Hinata always panicked when someone's at the door of Sasuke's apartment. She quickly hid he cup and threw her plate into the sink before hiding in the closet.

"You ought to stop this nonsense...so what if someone saw you hanging out with me?" Sasuke walked towards the door.

"T-That's not the problem, I-I don't really mind who sees us, as long as they're n-not one of you fangirls." Hinata pulled the closet door close to her, leaving a small gap big enough for air. Hinata did have a point, Sasuke smirked and sighed.

"Who is it?" his tone changed into a colder voice.

"It's me! Sakura!"

"And Ino too!" two high pitched voice answered.

"Go away." Sasuke yelled without opening the door, he ain't going to take any chances, not since the time a rabid fan girl tricked Sasuke into opening the door, broke into his room, stole a piece of dirty laundry and escaped. She would be an excellent kunoichi with skills like that, if it was used in the right field that is.

"Please, we have something to tell you." Ino pleaded.

"S-Sasuke, if you don't let them in, they'll wait there forever until you do." Hinata whispered from the closet.

"*sigh*...fine...what do you two want?" Sasuke finally opened the door, but did not invite them in.

"We heard you talking to someone, who's there?" Sakura poked her head through, Sasuke leaned to block her way.

"No one, just me." Sasuke grew very impatient.

"We brought something for you, Sasuke-kun. Congratulations on graduating with top marks!" Sakura and Ino pulled out a popper. The confetti fell onto his face and hair, he was enduring the rage.

"No-"

"Oh! You're already celebrating!" Sakura and Ino shove him aside to enter the room.

"So you were celebrating with someone, who is it? Please tell us." Ino grabbed onto his arm.

"No one, now shut up or I'll kick you out." Sasuke brushed her arms away.

"These food are cold, we've brought some desserts! Please have them instead." Sakura started packing away the food Hinata made for Sasuke.

"DON'T TOUCH THAT!" Sasuke yelled out. Sakura and Ino froze in position, they hadn't seen Sasuke yelled with impulse before, even Hinata who hid behind the close was frighten.

"I-I'm sorry, I-I-"

"Get out. Now." Sakura and Ino scrambled out of the room. The closet door squeaked opened, Hinata came out.

"A-Are you alright?" she asked.

"Ya...they just piss me off that's all." Sasuke felt tired, he laid down on his bed and covered his eyes with his arm.

"I'll start cleaning up, I-I'll see you t-tomorrow." Hinata quickly packed, she placed anything left edible in the fridge, did the dishes swiftly and left his apartment with caution. Sasuke couldn't believe it, a peaceful day with Hinata, ruined by his own hands. He just laid there for the rest of the day, until hunger kicked in. He spotted a pink floral box on the floor, must be left by Sakura and Ino. Sasuke looked inside, they were beautifully decorated cakes, each looked expensive and obviously not hand made by Sakura, or Ino. Sasuke took a bite from a slice, artificial sweet, it was disgusting, Sasuke thought. He shove the box into the fridge with the rest of the food he wouldn't eat, and pulled out the last piece of dark chocolate cake Hinata baked for him instead. The real sweetness that came from the baker's heart will always be the best.

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><p>Thanks for reading!<p> 


	4. Summer's Kiss

Hi everyone!

I'm surprised myself to update this quickly OwO" yay!

Hope you'll enjoy this chapter! I had to use the manga and anime as reference, so this might be a boring chapter

Please enjoy!

p/s: thank you **ProjXPsyClone **for pointing out my mistake xD I have no idea where "Shina" came from lol!

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><p>Girls on one side, guys on the other. The room was a total chaos. The guys were showing off their headbands. Sasuke arrived punctually, he waited silently with his arms folded in front of him. He was wearing a fake mask, the mask he wears in front of everyone else, it keeps them from knowing more about him. Hinata arrived just a few moments after him, just prevent specious from the Sasuke's fandom. But no-one noticed her entering the room either way, everyone else were either talking obnoxiously about themselves, or giggling over Sasuke, who just sat there.<p>

Naruto surprisingly didn't made a huge entrance, he just sat with a huge grin on his face, Hinata was smiling at him the whole time. Sasuke spotted that look on her face, she was glad, excited, all because of that idiot. It hit Sasuke's nerve hard. He already hated this blonde, but not as much as he hated him at that moment. Naruto was boasting to a classmate about how he got his headband, Hinata lightly brushed hers, which was decorated around her neck loosely. Naruto changed his view to Sakura, who was making her way towards his seat, acting very flirtatious.(Naruto did not notice Sasuke at that time).

"Hey, Sakura-cha-"

"Naruto, Move! I want to sit on the other side of you." Sakura blurted out. Naruto finally turned around, Sasuke was sitting there, he paid less attention to anything going on except Hinata. Sasuke blinked, Naruto was already staring at him.

"What?"

"What do you mean _what_?" they sent each other death glared. Sakura slowly made her way next to Sasuke, she was acting shy and innocent. A few girls were making a huge fuss about how bold Sakura was, how annoying, he thought. Then he heard a loud thump, in front of him was Naruto, in a crouching position and close to Sasuke's face. He heard Sakura yelling from the background, but it faded away. Everyone in the room was in shock. Naruto's lips unexpectedly met Sasuke's, how that happen with his hands in the way? No one knew. Sakura's soul was hanging above her, so were the other girls. Hinata was merely blushing, she didn't know what to think.

Sasuke and Naruto quickly spat out, the taste of ramen was making him noxious. He noticed Naruto being beaten like a plump behind him. How Sasuke was glad that wasn't his first kiss, he looked up at Hinata, who was covering her mouth from laughing and frowns for Naruto. Sasuke felt _he_ should be laughing, little did Hinata know, _she_ was his first kiss.

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><p><em>It was between the time when they were 7, Sasuke was spending his summer over at Hinata's. The hottest summer he had encountered so far. Hinata was bedridden, she had caught a summer cold. Sasuke felt he was to blame, he talked her into doing idiotic things, like lifting your shirt up to accumulate cool air from the fan.<em>

"_Are you feeling better?" Sasuke was sitting next to the Hinata._

"_Ya...I'm feeling better." Hinata sneezed._

"_My mum made chicken noodle soup, Ko just heated it up." a hot bowl of chicken soup awaits her, the auroma was mouth watering._

"_P-please send my gratitude to Mikoto-sama." Hinata sat up, her body was aching in pain._

"_So tell me, what d-did you do today?" Hinata asked, since she had to stayed inside, she wasn't allowed to play outside with the others._

"_Nothing much..." Sasuke scooted closer._

"_Do you know that Naruto boy?" Hinata nodded._

"_He caused trouble again...will he ever learn?" Sasuke told the story about Naruto's pranks to Hinata, which she enjoyed dearly. Sasuke already knew about Hinata's little crush on Naruto, he just didn't understand, why?_

"_All the other girls won't leave me alone...and they're acting really weird too, always squeezing me from both sides, I can hardly walk!" Sasuke continued to complain._

"_I-I think they're trying to get your attention." Hinata said with coughs in between words._

"_They won't stop looking at me with kissy faces, gross!" youth, how he wouldn't understand. Hinata drank the last drop of chicken soup and licked her lips._

"_What does it look like?" Hinata was curious to the bone._

"_Like this." Sasuke curled his lips out, it looked like a duck's beak._

"_Hahahah! You look funny!" Hinata fell back down laughing._

"_You see what I mean? And they won't stop harassing me about this stupid first kiss...what is it anyway? I really don't understand you girls..." Sasuke sat back in an up right position._

"_I-I'm not sure about it, but what I-I've heard from the other girls, apparently it's very important!" Hinata's nose was stuffy, but it wasn't as bad as they thought._

"_A sempai said, that a first kiss is something you give to someone you love the most, for 3 seconds." Hinata pulled a tissue next to her and blew her nose._

"_The person I love? Of couse it's Itachi! Does this mean I have to kiss him?" Sasuke said with pride._

"_Hmmm, I don't know, maybe?" Sasuke thought again._

"_But kissing a guy is disgusting!" Sasuke imagined what it would be like kissing his own older brother, it would be cute from a family's perspective, a peck on the lips, but a kiss had to cross the line. Hinata was rubbing her heavy eyelids, she laid back down, soon fell into deep slumber._

"_That would be gross! I don't want to kiss Itachi!" Sasuke stuck his tongue out in disgust, he turned to Hinata, but she was fast asleep. Her eyelash were long and curved, she slept facing Sasuke._

"_Hmmm..." Sasuke leaned over Hinata's sleeping face, leaning closer, he planted a kiss on her lips, it wasn't just a light peck, it lasted for at least 3 seconds (Sasuke counted)_

"_I guess you'll do."_

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><p>"Okay class, settle down...Starting today, all of you are Shinobis, but you're still a <em>genin, <em>the hard journey that lies ahead had just started." Sasuke didn't pay much attention to what Iruka-sensei said, he could care less about his team mates, they would just drag him down.

"Everyone will be put in a three man team, we arrange the group to balance each team's strength and ablilities." Iruka-sensei pulled out a list on a clip board.

"Team 7, Uzumaki Naruto, Haruno Sakura, and lastly, Uchiha Sasuke." the two buffoons cheered when their names were called. Things were going well, until Naruto made a complaint.

"Iruka-sensei, why am I paired up with this jerk?" Naruto rudely pointed at Sasuke.

"Naruto, Sasuke had the best grade out of every graduate. Your were dead last." the whole class laughed at Naruto, everyone except Hinata.

"Don't get in my way...Dead Last." Sasuke snared. Sasuke wasn't too happy Hinata wasn't in his team either.

"Team 8, Hyuuga Hinata, Inuzuka Kiba, and Aburame Shino." Sasuke quickly searched the room for the other two. Inuzuka Kiba, he remembered him, the wild dog who always hung out with Naruto when they were children, but Aburame Shino, he couldn't quire recall his face.

"You will be introduced to your instructor soon, I'll hand out information on your way out. You are all dismissed." everyone made their way out.

Sasuke made sure everyone else left before him, and since Hinata sat a few rows behind, she would be the last to exit as well.

"Let's get lunch." Sasuke whispered to her, and she nodded in reply.

They found a nice shaded area nearby, Hinata brought onigiri, obviously she even made Sasuke's portion.

"I-I think I forgot my change from the vending machine, I-I'll be right back." and off she went. Sasuke laid back, relaxing and eating his lunch. Before taking the last bite, someone pulled him back. Sasuke struggled and fought back the intruder tied him up and muted Sasuke with a tapes. Sasuke looked up, he saw Naruto with a cheeky grin on his face, he transformed into Sasuke's appearance and jumped off leaving Sasuke hidden.

"I'm back." Sasuke heard Hinata's voice and footsteps.

"Sasuke? W-where are you?" Hinata looked around, but there was silent. Sasuke wiggled around, he tried to kick something to catch her attention.

"Maybe he left..." Hinata sounded disappointed, Sasuke wanted to scream out her name, the cursed under his breath. Sasuke quickly undid his ropes as fast as he could, but Hinata had already left just before he untied them.

"Curse that dead last..." Sasuke grumbled.

"That Naruto, I'm going to kill him..." Sasuke scouted around for Naruto, on his way, he spotted Sakura, flushed when she say Sasuke.

"Oh Sasuke-kun, you're such a shy boy! I hope you're ready now, I sure am!" Sakura were jumping and squealing.

"Where's Naruto?" Sasuke looked around.

"Don't change the subject, who cares about Naruto?" Sakura folded her arms.

"He always picks fights with you, he's very selfish you know...he has such a troubled childhood." Sasuke continued to ignore her, hoping she would shut up sooner or later.

"He always does selfish things, if I did such thing, I'll get grounded for life! He's so lucky he's always alone, parents won't tell you what to do or not." Sakura continued to talk. Sasuke twitched, this girl stood there talking to him about parents? She doesn't appreciate anything she had. No matter how he wanted to get yelled at by his mother, or even his father, he couldn't.

"All alone...that feeling of a parent yelling at you, is no where near what he feel.." Sasuke was angry, the selfish one isn't Naruto, it's Sakura.

"You're annoying." Sasuke hissed and walked away. Sakura was dumfounded, Sasuke did knock some sense into her.

"Che, where's that idiot..." Sasuke searched further, the toilet door burst opened, Naruto ran out urgently, just in time to stop before crashing into Sasuke,

"What are you doing here?" Naruto looked terrified, the least.

"A real shinobi can untie ropes, remember that...dead last." Sasuke smirked, he had forgotten about what he was going to do to Naruto, just continued walking. He spotted Hinata nearby, he was about to call out to her, but saw she was with her team mates. Sasuke smirked, Hinata was enjoying herself, bonding with her own team mates, Sasuke was glad. Hinata was giggling at Kiba and Shino, they were taking guesses about their Jounin sensei. Hinata saw Sasuke not too far away, she gave him a smile and a wave, Sasuke did the same.

"Oi, Hinata, it's about time we meet our sensei!" Kiba and Shino were already half way there.

"I-I'll be there in a moment!" Hinata ran towards Sasuke, he was curious himself as to why she ran towards him.

"H-Here, h-have fun today." Hinata held out a can of oolong tea.

"I-I'll see you soon!" and off she went. Sasuke looked down at the can of drink, it was warm, Hinata was holding on to it the whole time, he could tell. Sasuke smiled to himself, he kept the drink safe in his pocket and walked back.

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><p>Thanks for reading!<p> 


	5. First mission

Hey guys, I hope you enjoyed the last chapter, here's another chapter! (wow, I'm actually updating!)

Enjoy!

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><p>It had just been a few days since graduates were assigned to their teams, Sasuke almost always return home late. He still felt uncomfortable with his team mates. Naruto was too loud, he wouldn't leave Sasuke alone. Sakura won't stop staring at him every chance possible, and not to mention their jounin sensei is <em>always<em> late. When ever Sasuke returns home, his dinner was prepared in advance for him and a note, left by Hinata. His meetings with Hinata became seldom. When he did see her, his or her team mates would be around, they wouldn't be able to talk casually. But whenever Sasuke was with his team, he occasionally saw Hinata, hiding behind poles or fences, stalking them, or stalking Naruto would be more accurate. Team 7 finished their training early today, Sasuke took this time to relax than train for once. He took a stroll around the training grounds, without Sakura following him. It has been a while since he had time to himself alone, usually it's with Hinata or his team. It felt, awkward. Sasuke rarely walk around without people following him, he quite enjoy this alone time to himself.

"Oi, Hinata, we're going to grab something to eat, are you coming?" Kiba's voice came from afar. Sasuke raised an eyebrow, he hid himself behind a tree and peaked. He had seen Hinata hiding too often to learn a few techniques. Hinata was training by herself, attacking the tree wrapped around by a mattress.

"G-Go on without me." she didn't even pause for a moment.

"Suit yourself...we won't be back for a while." Kiba gave her a last chance. Hinata didn't answer back, Kiba just shrugged it off and walked away with Akamaru and Shino. Sasuke trailed at Kiba and co, until it was safe to come out. Hinata had her back to him, she was too focused on her trainning, she didn't even notice the rustling behind her.

"Why didn't you go with them?" Hinata turned around, Sasuke had his arms folded, as usual.

"S-Sasuke! W-what a surprise." Hinata sent a final blow to the tree, the leaves to drizzle down at her.

"I-I wasn't hungry...I-I needed to train." Hinata walked towards him. She was walking shyly in her usual posture, arms held close to her chest and walking without self-esteem. Sasuke barely noticed her dramatic change. Hinata used to be less shy, her stuttered increased in her sentences than she used to too.

"I see you're training hard..." Hinata wiped the sweat and leaves off her head and nodded.

"Did you just finished your mission?" Sasuke nodded to her question.

"Let's go get something to eat then, even if you're not hungry, you still need to eat for energy." Sasuke started walked towards central of Konoha.

"M-Maybe I-I should just buy us lunch." Hinata suggested, it wasn't a bad idea either, after all, she _is _with _the _Uchiha Sasuke. Sasuke thought for a moment, he would agreed with her, he doesn't want to cause her any troubles, he knew what those vicious girls could do to someone as fragile and delicate as Hinata.

"No, you stay here, I'll go buy lunch." Hinata smiled and nodded, she saved a spot by the poles where she trained with weapons. She laid back and shut her eyes, the sweet smell of grass around her smelt most relaxing. Hinata heard faint noises, she opened her eyes to take a look. There, she saw Naruto sweating and panting. Hinata quickly crouched closer and hid behind a berry bush. In his orange track suit he rarely changed out from, Naruto was training all by himself, Hinata notices the holes on the thick tree trunks around Naruto.

"Shit!" Naruto frustratedly kicked the grass. Hinata's heart winced, she wasn't sure what this feeling was, it felt sour, but burning at the same time. Seeing Naruto this way made motivates her to be stronger.

"Naruto-kun, do your best!" Hinata cheered in her mind.

"Hey." a hand landed on her shoulder. Hinata yelped, she covered her mouth when she saw it was Sasuke.

"S-Sasuke, you scared me..." she let out a whisper of relief.

"What were you doing?" Sasuke looked ahead of him, he saw Naruto training all by himself. Sasuke too had a wincing pain in his heart too, but much different than Hinata's. His was more of a fiery burn, and not sour but bitter.

"S-Should we invite him to j-join us for lunch?" Hinata asked, which made Sasuke's foul emotions tasted like bitter from herbal roots. Sasuke stood up from his crouching position. Rattles from the bushes caught Narutos' attention.

"Sasuke! What the hell are you doing here?" Naruto quickly recovered to his hyper active-self.

"Heh, as if it concerns you. At least what I don't have to worry about my training as much as _you _do." Sasuke smirked.

"S-Sasuke! W-what are you doing?" Hinata tugged onto his shorts, she was still hiding behind the bushes.

"Why, you! You want to go for a round?" Naruto stood in an intimidating stance.

"Bring it!" Sasuke literally pounced onto Naruto like a wild puma. Naruto quickly picked up a kunai lying next to him, Sasuke did the same from his right pocket. Their weapons collided, it gave off a loud metallic clash. Hinata didn't know what to do, she wanted to stop Sasuke and Naruto from ripping each others' internals out, but what power does she have? One simple yell might have a slight chance of stopping the two, but it will also cause misunderstanding for her beloved Naruto-kun. Sasuke continued fighting Naruto with jealousy, he was threatened Naruto, that some day, he might take Sasuke's only friend away from him. He hated that feeling of loosing someone, the more Hinata talks or looks at Naruto, the more he felt he was loosing her.

"What is wrong with you?" Naruto were blocking most of Sasuke's attacks, Sasuke clinched his teeth together, biting onto anger. What does Hinata see in him? Every time Sasuke's around Naruto, Hinata's always hiding behind inanimate objects with a blushing face. Why would she spend her time stalking this loser?

"You!" Sasuke let out a roar, he pushed Naruto down, pinned him to the ground with his kunai at Naruto's throat. Sasuke stared into Naruto's warm blue eyes. His eyes were bright and innocent, unlike Sasuke's. The two boys were tired, their breathing were heavy and unsettling. Quiet crash came from beside them. It was the lunch Sasuke bought earlier. The rice-balls scattered all over the grass, as well as the dumplings and radish. Sasuke turned back to the bushes, the leaves shook, Hinata wasn't hiding there anymore.

"Get off me!" Naruto pushed the dazed Sasuke off his chest.

"You, seriously have issues." Naruto brushed the dirt off his suit and walked away. Sasuke was in a venerable position, he was gazing at the clouds. What had he done? He thought, he was just making a fool of himself.

Team 7 had been doing pointless missions lately, it was either baby sitting, finding lost pets or weeding an old citizen's garden. These weren't missions for an avenger such as Sasuke to be attending. At their last mission, they have had it. Naruto complained and nagged about his duties, he was right too. With further debate, the Hokage finally agreed to let them have a C rank mission. Naruto sprung with excitement and joy, when he hoped for a beautiful princess or a high rank lord to protect, they only received a drunk old geezer. He had a weird pointed hat on, round glasses half way down his face, unshaven beard and obviously sloppy.

"Are you really a ninja?" he obviously doesn't trust them, who would? Any team with Naruto in it should make _anyone_ feel insecure of being protected. That old man's name was Tazuna, he was or still is a bridge builder from the hidden mist village. Their mission starts the next day, it would take at least half a day to reach the outskirts of Konoha. Sasuke returned home to pack for tomorrow's mission, he brought all the essentials with him as well as a few useful scrolls. As he was packing, he heard a soft knock on the door. Based on that weak knock, it's most likely Hinata. Sasuke unlocked the door for her to enter.

"I-I've made some dumplings today, w-would you like to have some?" Hinata brought a small container with her. She decorated the dumplings onto a plate and left it on Sasuke's tea table.

"I have a mission tomorrow." Sasuke started folding his clothes.

"I-Is that so, I-I should have m-made you something to bring along." Hinata unconditionally started helping him pack.

"I'll just bring these dumplings." Sasuke packed the last scroll into his backpack.

"I-I wish you luck on your journey! You're so lucky, with me dragging the team down, it might take us at least a year to get a C rank mission like yours." Hinata mumbled the last sentence.

"Knowing you, it might take longer if you keep loosing confidence." Sasuke went to the kitchen, only to return with two cups of tea.

"Something wrong?" Hinata had her eyes half closed, she was holding back the tears.

"Father, has sent me to live with Kurenai-sensei. He is disowning me." Hinata held her cup of tightly. Those words made Sasuke's heart fell. He wouldn't be surprise though, he had lived with the Hyuugas before, he knew very well what kind of person Hiashi is, after Hinata's mother's death. Hinata left her tea untouched on the table and curled into a ball. Sasuke tried patting her head and tell her 'everything's going to be okay', but that wasn't what he wanted to say. His hand stopped half way from touching Hinata's head. Sasuke turned to his closet and pulled out a thin blanket. He wrapped it around Hinata, then pulling the rim towards him. Without a single word, Sasuke pressed his forehead against Hinata's head. Their face were barely an inch apart. Hinata continued to weep quietly, under the protection of Sasuke.

"_I promised you, I'll protect you whenever you feel afraid."_

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><p>Morning had arrived, Hinata fell asleep from crying, she didn't even realize herself. She looked up and saw Sasuke as lying on the table, she had fallen asleep on his lap.<p>

"S-Sasuke, it's morning." Hinata felt her eyes pulsing in pain. Sasuke sat up and stretched, he let out a loud yawn.

"It's this late already? I better get going." he leaped into the air and rush into the bathroom to freshen up.

"I-I'll make breakfast!" Hinata rushed to the kitchen.

Within a minute, Sasuke had changed out from his pajamas into his typical high neck blue Uchiha shirt and shorts. He shove dried toast into his mouth, and a cup of milk poured for him.

"S-Sasuke, the eggs aren't ready yet." Hinata was still in the kitchen.

"W-Wait!" Hinata turned off the gas, she pulled out something from her back pocket.

"K-Keep this with you, it's the Hyuuga's special healing ointment, i-it might come in handy." Hinata held it out with both hands. Sasuke hesitated to accept her gift.

"Thanks." he gave a warm smile. Everything packed and ready, Sasuke headed out from his apartment.

"S-Stay safe!" Sasuke waved back to Hinata.

Hinata took a deep breath of fresh air, today's a new day, she wasn't going to waste it on feeling sorry for herself!

"D-Do your best, Hinata!" she gave herself encouragement, it felt strange but effective. Moving as fast as she could, she finished doing the dishes before returning to Kurenai's home. During this hour in the morning, Kurenai should still be sleeping. Hinata sneaked in from the back door, Kurenai's house wasn't huge, it was ordinary, but difficult to sneak back in without anyone noticing. Hinata tiptoed after removing her sandals, her room was close to the back entrance, which has a plus for her to sneak out.

"Rule number one of sneaking, never try to underestimate your enemy's ability to sniff you out." Kurenai was wearing a bathing robe stood behind Hinata, her red eyes glowed in a crimson shade under her wet hair and make-up free skin.

"K-Kurenai-sensei, I-I'm really sorry. I-I lost track of time." Hinata quickly apologizes. Kurenai saw how puffy Hinata's eyes were, a clear sigh she was crying for the whole night.

"Just tell me next time where you're going. Hurry up, we have missions and training to complete today."

"Y-Yes! I-I won't be long." Hinata returned to her room to start freshening up. She looked at herself in the mirror. Every angle of her face looked like Hanabi, the only difference was their hair, so why are they so different physically? Hinata traced her tear traces on her cheeks, how long had she been crying, she wondered.

"_I promised you, I'll protect you whenever you feel afraid."_

She heard those words last night, she didn't exactly heard it from Sasuke himself, but she had a feeling he said that. She smiled, Sasuke kept his promise after all.

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><p>Thanks for reading! please look forward to the next chapter :)<p> 


	6. Beginning of something, new?

Hey guys! Here's another chapter :) I'm trying to finish this fic before uploading the others. (I've already started writing them, if I don't I'll forget :P) hope you enjoy this fic! (it's a little long though.) you can skip most of the part, it's just repetition of what happened in the manga/anime.

p/s: thanks for the reviews! Really appreciate it :D

Enjoy!

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><p>He was trapped, there was no way out of this mirror of ice. Sasuke was on alert, every move he make might be a mistake. Naruto was moving cautiously as well, but he was badly injured like Sasuke. Who knew there was someone much stronger than him, he thought. He really felt like a frog born in a well who knew nothing but the sky he sees from the hole above him. The needles that pierced through his skin were uncomfortable, and quite painful, it was quite difficult to move around with one on his knee. He was frustrated, how could he be loosing to someone, death seemed so close to him, staring him in the eyes. He felt pathetic, even Hinata, who deemed weak could activate her Byakugan at a young age. He wanted to be stronger, he needed power. A rain of needles were fired towards them, Sasuke quickly ran towards Naruto's side. He didn't know why, but he predicted what his enemy was going to do next. He glared at his enemy in front of him. What he saw was not an image, but faint chakra flames circulating. He had activated his<p>

Sharingan.

Hinata pricked her finger while sewing, she was helping patching up holes on Sasuke's clothes. Hinata was usually very careful when it comes to sewing, she wondered what could cause her to prick her finger.

"I-I hope this isn't one of those signs..." Hinata said to herself in a worried voice.

Sasuke couldn't believe he did something so stupid. Naruto's an idiot, he didn't like him from the start, but he accepted him as a team mate. Sasuke had seen Naruto's efforts, he wasn't useless or lazy as everyone said. He has his own way of learning, not very talented, but hard working. Sasuke noticed the resemblance between him and Hinata. They both wanted people to acknowledge the strength they have, it was just the amount of time they need to show it. Sasuke saw Naruto passed out from the chakra training, he begun to know why Hinata likes him so much. Still, Sasuke didn't like him in a way that cannot be describe even by Sasuke himself. "Geez...all you ever do is get in the way..." Sasuke coughed out blood. Naruto was staring back at him in disbelief.

"What's with that face...you moron."

"Why" He protected Naruto, he didn't even know why his body moved on his own. The thought of Hinata unconsciously came up to him, what would she do if she finds out Naruto's dead, while her best friends just stood there and watch him being tortured to death? The thought of Hinata crying, he remembered the time she cried and starved herself when a rabbit died. Was sacrificing himself worth it? Naruto wasn't so bad after all, Sasuke didn't want to admit it, but Naruto is his comrade. Those who doesn't appreciate their comrade are worse than trash.

"But...but...why? Why me?" Naruto was confused himself.

"I don't know...my body moved on it's own...idiot." He regretted his revenge on his brother. Itachi's face played through his mind, he didn't want to die yet, not until he killed him. He also regretted his inability to tell Hinata he's sorry he wasn't able to keep their promise. But he did what he thought was right.

"That man...my brother. I told myself I wouldn't die until I kill him. Don't you die too." Sasuke's voice was weak, he grew tired, too weak to open his eyes again.

It wasn't long when he heard someone sobbing on his body. Sasuke's first thought was they brought his body back to Konoha, and someone was crying over his death. But then again, if he was dead, he wouldn't have felt anything. Sasuke recognize that sobbing, it was Sakura. He called out her name in his head, his lips were too dry and heavy to speak properly, but he finally did spoke.

"Sakura, you're heavy." he finally saw light, he wasn't dead after all. Sakura, who was mourning over Sasuke cried even louder when she saw the love of her life crawled back from the dead, she held Sasuke close to her, squeezing the remaining life out of him.

"Sakura...that hurts..." Sasuke could still feel pain streaming down his body.

"Ah, S-Sorry." she was too happy to see him alive. Sasuke tried standing up, but Sakura tried to keep him seated.

"What about, Naruto?" Sasuke was curious, but more worried.

"Naruto's fine, but the masked kid is dead." Dead? was Naruto that strong?

"Dead? Did Naruto kill him?" Sasuke needed to know.

"N-No, I'm not sure, but he protected Zabuza."

"I see." Sakura was glad to see him alive and moving, she started praising him.

"I had faith in you, It's impressive that you prevented attacks to your critical areas."

"No." Sasuke thought again, he remembered the battle well. Haku, the masked boy did not intend to kill them to begin with.

"Naruto! He's alright! Sasuke's alive!" Sakura screamed out at the top of her lungs. Naruto wasn't far away, he was next to Kakashi. Sasuke saw Naruto, he had recovered from his wounds and was prepared to battle alongside Kakashi. Sasuke was embarrassed, he just gave a small wave to Naruto, Naruto on the other hand was close to tears. He thought everything ended, but more ninjas came. It's the end for them, Kakashi is worn out and so is Naruto and the others. Sasuke was weak on his knees, Sakura had to help him stand. As the ninjas were about to charge at them, the villagers came just in time with weapons. Inari, Tazuna's grandson had gathered everyone in the village to fight. Kakashi also helped. Everything ended better than expected. Snow fell from the sky when Kakashi helped Zabuza next to Haku. Sasuke looked up, finally, everything's over.

After the mission, they stayed in the village for another two weeks, to settle things down for a bit. Kakashi had buried Haku next to Zabuza, Naruto questioned Kakashi about Ninjas being tools. If a ninja wasn't allowed to pursue his or her own goal, then what are they living for? Just to be used and thrown away? Naruto didn't like it, neither does Sasuke.

"You believe that too?" Sasuke wanted to know what Kakashi thought.

"Well, each and over ninja has to live while dealing with that issue. Just like Zabuza and that boy."

Everyone was silent.

"Ok, I just decided. I'm going to be a ninja in my own way." Sasuke thought through, Naruto stood his ground, but Sasuke wasn't sure about what he would be a ninja for.

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><p>Sasuke's mission took longer than Hinata thought, a C rank mission such as this would only take a week tops, but it was almost 3 weeks. She was worried about Sasuke and Naruto, Sakura too, who was a classmate of hers.<p>

"Gatsuga!" Kiba's attack rage towards her. Hinata snapped out, but wasn't fast enough to dodge Kiba's attack. His Gatsuga sent her flying, she was lucky Kiba held back a little bit.

"Hinata, are you alright?" Kiba and Akamaru rushed to her aid.

"I-I'm fine." Hinata tried to stand up, but the blow she took on her stomach stung in pain. Akamaru licked her hand.

"Hinata, what were you doing?" Kurenai came with her arms crossed, she wasn't really pleased.

"I-I'm sorry." She stood back up in wincing pain.

"We'll call it a day. Let's get your wounds treat, Hinata." Kurenai took her back home. Kurenai treated her wounds carefully, Hinata had her jacket taken off and lifted her shirt, showing just her stomach's wound. She looked quite off.

"You're distracted, Hinata." Kurenai started applying ointments to the wound.

"I-I wasn't...really." Hinata looked down at her feet.

"What's wrong?" Kurenai proceeded to bandaging.

"T-Team 7, they haven't returned from their m-mission yet. I-I'm worried, that's all." Kurenai tied a knot a the side of her, just to make it less uncomfortable when she sits.

"Kakashi sent a message before, they had encountered some trouble on their way, they'll be back soon." Hinata's spirits finally lifted, she was glad to hear any news.

"I'm glad." she smiled.

"There, all done. Don't over work yourself too hard now. I have some errands to do so I'll be leaving." Kurenai started packing up the first aid.

"I-I'll take care of this, P-Please leave it to me." Hinata took the roll of bandage from Kurenai. She nodded and left the room. Sasuke and Naruto must have been doing well in their mission, Hinata wished she could embark in such adventure. She looked up at the clock, it's nearly noon.

"I-I should prepare something for Sasuke, h-he must be hungry from his trip." Hinata quickly packed and headed to the nearest supermarket.

It was already noon when team 7 returned, it has been an exhausting day, everyone just wanted a good night rest in their own beds. Kakashi was the first to leave, how lucky was he just disappearing like that. Sakura was too tired to flirt with Sasuke, let alone walk home with him.

"I-I'll see you tomorrow, Sasuke-kun." Sakura forced a sweet voice to cover up the fatigue before walking off. Sasuke, as usual ignored her. He concluded if you ignore Sakura long enough, she might stop with these ridiculous flirting and talk to him properly, it might be working. Naruto still had some energy left in him, the first thing he yelled out when they entered the village was Ichiraku Ramen. He's going to loose a lot of hair in future if he continues to eat ramen. They both exchanged eye contacts, but it didn't last long. They were to the point of rivals. Sasuke looked the street on his way back, he hadn't eaten much for breakfast, lunch wasn't prepared much considered the village was poor.

Sasuke was lucky, around this time of the day, food kiosk will be everywhere. The sweet smell of hot buns filled the air, how Sasuke's mouth went watery. He loved the dumplings Hinata made for him, they weren't exactly prefect, but just the taste he liked. He walked past a bakery, the one Hinata often visit. He saw some bread left unsold and walked in.

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><p>Hinata had prepared dinner for Sasuke and herself, she had made as many dishes based on tomatoes as she could think of. She waited and waited for Sasuke's return. The food was getting cold, she wondered what took him so long. She was about to give up all hope until she heard the door being unlocked. Hinata sprung out from her seat and sprinted towards the entrance.<p>

"W-Welcome back!" Hinata greeted him in her casual clothes. Sasuke was surprised himself to see Hinata in his apartment.

"I'm home." he smiled back. It had been awhile since he'd smiled.

"I-I made dinner, I-I'll go heat it up now!" Hinata ran back to the table. Sasuke suddenly felt shy. If other people didn't know and saw them from a third person's point of view, they would assume Sasuke and Hinata were dating or even married.

"S-Sasuke?" Hinata waved at his face, Sasuke looked away shyly. He wanted to strangle himself for having these thoughts about him and his best friend, his only friend. Dinner was served within a couple of minutes, Hinata placed the hot bowl of Donburi in front of Sasuke. He looked down. He remembered the first time Hinata's mother made Donburi for him, he misunderstood her at first, but now he knew what she meant.

"I-Is something wrong?" Hinata looked up. Sasuke shook his head.

"Nothing, I just remembered something that's all."

"oh." they both ate in silence. Hinata didn't want to flood Sasuke with questions, especially since he just came back from a mission and it would feel awkward.

"I brought cinnamon rolls on my way home." he held out a plastic bag.

"I-I thought you didn't like s-sweet food." Hinata asked with another sip of her miso.

"But you do." Hinata smiled.

"Thanks... S-So, H-how was your mission?" she finally had the courage to ask. It took Sasuke a while to reply, but he didn't stop then. He continued with his story, how it turned from a C rank mission into a A rank.

"A-Are you badly injured? D-do you need to go to the doctors t-tomorrow?" Hinata started panicking. Sasuke calmed her down and chuckled.

"Not too bad." he patted his bandaged cheek.

"S-Sakura-san must have had a terrible fright, s-since she liked you so much and all." Hinata could understand Sakura's pain, if she looses Sasuke, she didn't know how she could go on. She held back her tears, Sasuke's alive isn't he, she shouldn't cry.

"W-What about N-Naruto-kun, is he alright too?" Sasuke felt a nerve pulsed against his skin. Why did she have to mention his name?

"Ya, he's fine." Sasuke was sulking, he wasn't trying to show it but he had a tone in his words.

"Thanks for the meal." he had finished his meal, Hinata wasn't even half way yet.

"Why aren't you eating?" Sasuke asked, Hinata seemed to be loosing her appetite.

"N-nothing, I-I just didn't feel like eating that's all." the truth was, she was holding back the pain in her stomach, Kiba's attacks were powerful, if he was serious about the fight, he could have pierced through her skin even further and leave an eternal scare on her. Sasuke noticed how she had been touching her stomach a lot, he pulled her arm away with one hand and lifted her shirt up with the other. Sasuke wasn't aware of what he did.

"You hurt your stomach?" Sasuke asked. Hinata blushed, she pulled her arm away from Sasuke's grip, quickly covered her bandaged stomach.

"I-It's nothing." Hinata didn't like lying, but she didn't want Sasuke to worry either.

"Y-your wounds are more serious than mine, y-you should be more worried about yours i-instead." Hinata was right, Sasuke should be concern about his own health.

"Your healing ointment did help." Sasuke smirked. Hinata was glad, she felt for once, she was being useful.

"I-I'll go do the dishes." she packed the bowls together and took them to the kitchen, she was humming a song while doing dishes. Sasuke laid back, it's good to be home, he thought. He looked over at Hinata, why was she born in the wrong family, being a Hyuuga gave her potential, but it also made her weak and venerable. Sasuke went deep into his thoughts. He remembered Naruto said he will be a ninja in his own way, Sasuke decided on his own too. He will be a ninja for the sake of protecting Hinata, his promise to her will be eternal. He stared at her more intensely, yet not too obvious as Hinata's not paying much attention to him. He liked the way she stood, her cooking, her personality, everything about Hinata smooths him. He remembered the last moment of his life flashed past him, the only people he though of was Itachi and Hinata. Sasuke wondered to himself, was it because she's his best friend that his last moment of life she appeared? Or has Sasuke developed feelings deeper than friendship he did not dare ask himself. Everything became more complicated for him to understand. He remembered the sight of Hinata's bandaged stomach and realize what he did, he hid his face with a pillow, embarrassed. How would he face Hinata again without the image of her flat stomach.

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><p>Hmm, I think I might be getting side tracked here...But thanks for reading! I'll update the next one very soon :)<p> 


	7. Chuunin

My deepest apology to all my readers...I do feel guilty for the long hiatus when I've promised a chapter soon... lots of assignments came up and stuff :( So here's chapter 7! I actually started it as soon as I finished chapter 6, but didn't get the chance to finish it . I haven't written anything in English for such a long time...everything has been in Japanese for the past month (I'm not joking) so please bear with my, hardly-improved, from bad to worse grammar :)

Enjoy!

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><p>Sasuke thought facing Hinata was his only concern, he didn't think that Naruto's existence after that mission would make things complicated as well. Naruto tried his best to shine in missions, but inevitably failed...miserably.<p>

"Hey Sasuke-kun, wait!" Sasuke was on his way home, he had to wake up quite early after a night without sleep, he couldn't get the image of Hinata's stomach out of his mind.

"How about right now, we work on our teamwork, just the two of us..." Sasuke then cuts her off.

"You're the same as Naruto. If you have tome to bother me, practice a jutsu of two, because frankly, your ability is below Naruto." which was true, Sasuke may seem like the kind of person who doesn't pay attention to his surroundings unless he's interested, but he is actually well aware of everyone around him. Sakura always does the least amount of work, Sasuke doesn't completely blame her, Naruto always tries to prove himself by accomplishing Sakura's part. Sasuke made an excuse to leave them, he actually just wanted to be alone for a while.

_The training grounds should be free around this time...maybe I should-_

He heard something behind him when he left the intersection. Usually, Sasuke wasn't the kind of person who enjoys meddling around people's matters, but he sensed something wasn't right. He climbed up a tree nearby to analyze the situation. Two foreign ninjas, the male had Konohamaru held up, Sasuke randomly picked up a few pebbles from the ground, he swings back up the branch and threw the pebbles exactly at the intruder's fist before he could punch Konohamaru, who immediately dropped him.

"What are you bastards doing in our village. Get lost."

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><p>"Kyaaa!" Hinata had been thrown back from Kurenai's kage bunshin. Kiba ran towards her and caught her in time.<p>

"You alright?" he let her down. The team were exhausted, they hadn't had a break for quite some time. Hinata's last juuken made the bunshin disappeared, but it took a lot of effort from the members.

"Kiba, why don't you and Shino collect the shurikens." Kurenai waited for the two boys to leave her sight.

"Hinata." she looked down at her. Hinata was covered in wounds from the training, Kiba's signature attack and Shino's bugs left marks on her worn jacket. She looked up at her sensei, her body covered in scratches and pain spread through her exhausted body.

"Your father requested to see you. He asked when you'll be available." Kurenai wasn't heartless of a sensei, sure she was strict to her students, but she was also a kind mother figure to them. She spoke to Hinata in a comforting tone, even with the harshest criticism. Hinata looked back down at her numb legs. Hiashi wanted to see her? What for? She remembered clearly he didn't want anything to do with her, Hanabi is and will always be the only one he sees in his eyes. She recalled the conversation between her father and mentor, never in her life was she able to forget.

Kurenai looked up in the air, a messenger bird flew by. Kiba and Shino had by now, collected the shurikens.

"Team dismissed. I have to report something back to the headquarters." then poof, she disappeared.

"I'm beat." Kiba set the weapons aside and laid down on the grass with his whole body spread around. Shino was more refined compared to Kiba, rarely showing any expression on his face, but his team could tell he had no energy left in him. Hinata was sweating under her jacket, but was too embarrassed to take it off. She stood back up, a painful sting covered her body in aching pain.

"Hinata, my advise for you is to rest, you shouldn't over work yourself." Shino finally spoke.

"I-It's alright, I-I can manage." Hinata's too stubborn to listen when it comes to training. She wanted to hide herself deep into the forest and curled up alone like a lost kitten. On every mission they're were assigned to, Hinata would fail at every one of them, even simple ones. Her team mates always had to save her in the end of the day – they don't find it troublesome.

_Pull yourself together, Hinata!_ she clapped her cheeks together and smiled.

"Oi, Hinata, are you okay?" Kiba looked at her strangely when she slapped her own cheeks.

"I-I'm fine, P-Please don't worry!" she replied with a thin smile.

"Shino and I are going to train nearby, call us if you need any help."

Finally, she's alone. She took off her jacket, her body was still aching in pain from her previous training drained her motivation to move forward, but she did not care.

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><p>He appeared out of no where, Sasuke couldn't even sense him when he was right beside him. That level of sneakiness is on the same level as Kakashi's. This boy with red hair stopped the male, Kankuro from embarrassing his village, Sasuke assumed he is the leader telling by the faces they show when they saw him. They were terrified of him, as if he was a monster, the words he spoke were cold and lifeless. Sakura attempt to stop them, trespassers aren't welcome to Konoha. The female pulled out her pass.<p>

We have come to your village to take the chuunin selection exam."

_Chuunin Exam...interesting._

"Hey you, what's your name." Sasuke jumped down from the tree branch.

"Sabaku no Gaara...I'm also interested in your name." he asked.

"Uchiha Sasuke." he replied with a smirk. He was overwrought, he had met someone strong that made his blood boiled. He had the sudden urge to train, he wanted to pour all his energy out.

Sasuke noticed someone walking rather slowly in front of him. It was Hinata. Her head had been kept down and drained, possibly from missions and training, Sasuke thought.

"_Do as you wish, Hyuuga doesn't need her...a loser below in ability to this 5 year younger Hanabi...such a pity that Uchiha boy is not a Hyuuga. He would make a much fitting role as heir than her."_

"Ah. Did you have training?" Sasuke's voice broke Hinata away from her memories.

"How's your-" his excitement from meeting Gaara were put aside as soon as he saw her. Sasuke was about to ask Hinata about her stomach wound, but the image just won't shake off. He shyly looked away.

"Your wound..." Hinata blinked, why was Sasuke acting to distant all of a sudden.

"I-It's fine." she held onto her left arm.

"Did you get hurt again?You're prone to getting hurt, aren't you." he asked with a grin, he was trying to clear the uncomfortable blush on his cheeks. That grin, he's mocking her weakness, Hinata is prone to falling into such depression and jealousy, but she is still young.

"Y-Ya...I-I guess I am." she didn't dare to look at Sasuke in the eye, she didn't want to hate her best friend because of her own weakness. Her vision wondered around in unease. Sasuke sensed something wrong with Hinata, he was bothered by her idle gaze, but he couldn't figure out what was bothering her.

"I-I have to go. S-See ya." Hinata walked pass him without any eye contact.

"Wait!" Sasuke grabbed onto her arm.

"You're acting strange today." he whispered.

"I-I'm not..." Sasuke grew frustrated, Hinata continued to look away.

"I'm the only person in this world that know if something's wrong with you." He was right, they had been together for years. Even Hinata's own father wouldn't know what was wrong with her with all the time he was given.

"Just tell me what's wrong." Sasuke grew impatient, he was never a patient person to begin with. He focused at her eyes. They were lavender, as he looked deeper, they turn slightly gray when Hinata's feeling insecure or uncomfortable.

"I-It's nothing. I'm just t-tired, t-that's all." Sasuke didn't buy it, but it knew better to force it out of her. He loosened his grip, Hinata took this advantage and jerk her arm back.

"Just leave me alone! I don't want to see you!" she pulled her arms back forcefully. Sasuke was astonished, Hinata never does that before, not even when she's feeling agitated from countless harassment from play mates.

"I don't think I'll be able to visit you tonight. B-Bye." she took off rather quickly, Sasuke, still stunned didn't even had the chance to reply.

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><p>It was almost sunset, Sauske has spent all of his time training with his Sharingan, though, training alone won't help much. Hinata's actions today bothered him, he grew frustrated with mind reading games, he had enough of this nonsense with his brother, he doesn't want to repeat it again with Hinata. He threw the last kunai from his pocket towards the thick tree trunk, the impact echoed into Sasuke's ears. He stood back up to straighten his back. Void. He felt empty after pouring his thoughts out.<p>

_Maybe Hinata might want to train, to get what ever is in her head cleared off. _he looked up at the setting sky, Hinata should still be around town at this hour she wouldn't return until dusk. He searched around town for her, and to think his fangirls had settled down for their teams and concentrate on other matters, he was wrong. They wouldn't stop flirting and following him everywhere he went.

_This is getting out of hand...why can't they just leave me alone?_ Sasuke grew impatient and frustrated, searching for Hinata was difficult enough, the fan girls screamed every minute Sasuke did something they described as 'moe' made him insane. In a nick of time, he spotted Hinata straight ahead, she was carrying a bag full of groceries heading towards Kurenai's home. Sasuke pulled his hands from his pocket to try reach out to Hinata, the sounds of squeals haven't left him made him paranoid.

"Hina-"

_wait, the fan girls are still following me. _He felt the girls close to him, watching his every move, listening to his every breath.

_If they find out about my relationship with Hinata, she would have to suffer..._

Sasuke halt his steps, footsteps behind him stopped too. He shove his hands back into his pocket and turned to the girls with a glare.

"Stop following me or I'll really get angry." he spoke in the coldest tone he made. The girls, of course, accepted his warning and each dismissed themselves. Sasuke let out a sigh of relief within him, Finally, he caught up to her, his arms reached out to give a light tap on her shoulder, but something held him back. Hinata's words hurt him, did she really mean it? She had never said anything like that to him before, he was confused. Sasuke kept his pace close to Hinata, her mind were too occupied she didn't notice Sasuke behind her all along. Sasuke thought again. If Hinata didn't mean what she said, she would have apologized to him, but if she did, would Sasuke just be asking for more scares to their relationship by being ignorant? He no longer care at the last draw when they had exit the shopping district and towards the residence.

_Who am I kidding? I'm Uchiha Sasuke! I don't do things other people's way! She's my best friend and I'll deal with what ever crap she'll throw at me later!_

"Hey." Hinata was startled by Sasuke's presence. He smiled to her, an awkward smile, but it was still a smile. Hinata didn't look entirely pleased to see him.

"S-Sasuke!" Hinata was strangely surprised to see him, they see each other every day yet, they never get bored of each others company.

"Are you okay?" Sasuke raised an eyebrow and a grin.

"Y-Ya...maybe." she started fidgeting with her bags.

"Let me help you with that...Kurenai's just around the corner right?" she nodded without raising her head while the bags were taken away from her. She glanced back up at Sasuke, who's just taller than her by a few centimeters, smiled back to her and walked ahead.

"W-Wait..." Hinata gently tugged on his shirt, Sasuke was pulled back form her strong grip. Hinata had a wide blush across her face when he turned back to face her, she wouldn't stop looking away and biting her bottom lip. Like a hamster trying to squeak. Sasuke waited, obviously Hinata had something to say.

"S-Sorry..." she spoke in a soft voice. Sasuke stared at her blankly, deep inside, he held an urge to hug her, kiss her and do whatever he wants with her without guilt.

"I t-took my anger out at you...s-sorry..." Hinata felt too embarrassed to apologize for her weird behavior, she does apologize often, but this is just too much for Sasuke to take in. She loosened her grip and shrunk her arms close to her chest again. Sasuke let out a sigh, she's too adorable to be mad at. He set the bags on the floor and reach out to her. Hinata shut her eyes, if Sasuke were to punch her in the face or yell at her for being an idiot again, she would understand.

"Idiot." he lightly tapped her head and stroked her hair. Hinata tilted her head upwards, she was expecting something more brutal and vulgar from him.

"Who do you think I am?" he grinned. Hinata finally smiled back.

"have you eaten? Let's go to Ichiraku Ramen, it's not too far-"

"a-actually." Hinata interrupted.

"I-I was on my way to your apartment to m-make dinner.." Sasuke thought back. These groceries weren't for Kurenai, but for him. Sasuke's chest were crushing him, guilt was eating him alive.

"L-Let's just eat out today. I'm already hungry...by the time you finished making them, I would have starved to death." Hinata giggled, Sasuke was trying to cut her some slack, and she noticed.

"Okay." she offered to carry the other bag, which Sasuke agreed to (his arms was still sore from training anyway).

"I wonder if N-Naruto-kun will be there." Hinata smiled to herself and walked shyly. Sasuke's heart dropped when he heard her spoke Naruto's name.

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><p>phew, I finally finished this chapter! fingers cross I'll update xD thanks for reading!<p> 


	8. Chunnin, Part A

Wow, I've been away for so long I almost forgot about updating OwO" sorry everyone! Work piled up, have several tests and stuff. But all worth it!

Thank you everyone for the reviews!

Tia-chan: Thank you for the suggestion, I'll consider using it :)

Ace: Thank you for the review, yes I intended to continue it to shippuuden ^-^ please look forward to it!

You guys might have realize how the characters said the exact same thing from the manga, that's because I referenced it from there ^-^" it's pretty difficult to remember everything and all, so I thought why now just use the same dialogue? If might like to skip to the last part of this chapter, because it's basically a recap of what happened in the manga :)

This chapter might be boring so feel free to skip it xD I feel like I just have to post it though :(

Disclaimers: You know the drill :P

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><p>When Kakashi announced the team about the chuunin exams, Sasuke and Naruto couldn't withhold their excitement. Naruto's was different than Sasuke's, of course for different intentions. Sasuke's body shivered when he received his pass, no words could describe how intense his blood was boiling. For the remaining days, they were given time to train and sharpen their skills. Sasuke felt a disturbance in the balance of his team. It was strange Sakura didn't pester him about training together, usually she would speak in a over exaggerated tone asking Sasuke if he would like to train with her, and expected to be declined by the cool headed boy. Sakura wasn't someone Sasuke would pay much attention to, he never like loud and hyper active girls. He remembered when they were in the academy, Ino and her gang screamed at the top of their lungs upon Sasuke's existence, as well as their insane stalking ability to follow his every move, remember every rumor about him. Girls like Sakura shouldn't have their energy drained out this early, especially when Sasuke's around. It bothered Sasuke a little.<p>

"You were nominated for the exam as well?" Hinata just finished making the salad as she placed it in front of them.

"I-I was surprised m-myself. I d-don't think I have the confidence t-to enter." she didn't bother to remove her apron while enjoying dinner with Sasuke, might as well help her from leaving any stains on her black t-shirt. Sasuke took a mouth full of rice with his chopsticks before replying Hinata.

"You should have some confidence in yourself. It's not as bad as you think." Hinata never had the confidence in anything she does-except housework Sasuke assumed-she lacks physical ability of a fighter, but she has great flexibility for a Juuken user.

"I-I guess you're right...I-I shouldn't let my team down!" she spoke with a slightly enthusiastic tone. Sasuke couldn't help but admire this aspect of her, she motivates herself easily, but turns pessimistic quickly as well.

"I'll be entering anyway, I'll be on a look out for you so you'll do fine." Sasuke's over confidence has always been a problem for him, he underestimate his enemies too quickly without further analysis, but of course, that's what makes him the most popular boy in Konoha.

"O-Okay!"

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><p>Hinata woke up earlier than expected, only 5 hours has passed. She sat up on her bed and thought through. Who was she trying to fool? Sasuke had talked her into something she doesn't want to do again. She's too weak to enter anything, she even doubted herself if she could pass the first preliminaries. Wasting time depressing about herself won't change a thing, Naruto has thought her that. She threw her blanket aside and quickly changed into some loose clothing she pulled out from her closet. The air was cold, not a single soul lingered the streets of Konoha. Hinata started out with a light jog to her usual training grounds, it grew cooler as she approached the forest. Hinata slowed her pace down, she did a few more stretches to loosen her muscles, when she heard a rustle behind the bush, her body tensed back up, who would still be around during this ungodly hour? Hinata pulled her kunai out from her bag, this might be a light warm up for the upcoming chuunin exam. Hinata's stealth was one of her specialty, she's petite and unnoticable, very much like the main character of manga she read with Sasuke. No one would notice her. She brought her kunai close to her face, just a few inches away from her frozen cheeks. Another rustle. To her amaze, it was none other than Naruto. She would expect Sasuke to be the one who sneaks out this early or late to train, but for Naruto was quite a shocker, even for Hinata. Naruto had fallen asleep under a tree, not the best spot for a rest, but safe enough for a drizzling night if rain does arrive.<p>

_Okay, I'll try my best too, Naruto-kun! _

She withdrew her kunai back and returned to her training.

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><p>Sasuke arrived early at their meeting spot, outside the snack bar. He couldn't sleep for the whole night, too excited to fight the strongest opponent...Gaara. It was long before Sakura arrived, she was awfully quiet Sasuke noticed, too quiet for Sasuke's comfort-he was too used to her high pitched voice. Even when it's just him and Sakura, everything felt slightly awkward. Sakura was usually either too busy ranting at Naruto about his stupidity or talking to him nonstop.<p>

"Where's that idiot." Sasuke looked around,

"Hey! Sakura-chan!" Naruto ran towards them with his registration form up in the air. Sakura surprisingly answered politely. They handed in their forms and were told to enter the academy. There were several ninjas from different villages, Sasuke had his eyes on a lookout for Gaara and any other strong opponent he might take interest in. As the ascended the stairs, a group of ninjas appeared before them, hurdling around room 301. a male ninja with strange bowl hair cut were beaten and lying on the ground, a girl, most likely his team mate tried to talk her way though, but received a slap across her face instead. Team 7 couldn't figure out what was all the commotion about. Two teen around his age were boasting about their strength and 'kindness', but he certainly know it's something silly. Born with the Sharingan, he is almost immune to simple genjutsu.

'I agree but, you will let me pass through...and also, remove this surrounding created with genjutsu." of course Sasuke's kind enough to hint amateurs.

"Ah, so you noticed" Sasuke simply smirked.

"Sakura, you must have noticed first right?" Sakura looked surprised. She may be annoying, but Sasuke still acknowledge her as his team mate.

"Your analytical ability and genjutus know-how is the most improved on our team." of course not as perfect as Sasuke's, but still impressive for someone without an advanced bloodline. Sakura had a faint blush across her face, Sasuke said something he didn't fully realize made her happy.

"of couse , I noticed awhile ago. Because this is the second floor." she spoke in confidence.

"not bad, but all you did was see through it!" the ninja from before appeared in front of him with great speed, Sasuke acted through reflex, he raised his legs for a kick, but was stopped by someone between them. It was the beaten green body-suit male, he moved in such increadible speed Sasuke didn't notice. There were chakra flowing round his arms, visible enough for Sasuke's sharp eyes to notice.

"What happened to the plan? You're the one who said we shouldn't draw attention to ourselves" too late for that, Sasuke thought. The injured boy started blushing, Sasuke noticed his injuries and bruises disappeared, was it part of the Genjutsu?

"Oh no." the girl from before shook her head, he made his way towards Sakura, who was standing next to Naruto.

"Hi, my name is Rock Lee. So yours is Sakura." everyone was just standing around to be amused.

"Let's go out together! I'll protect you till I die!" he winked at Sakura, who looked shocked and disgusted.

"No way, you're lame." she quickly rejected him.

"Hey you. What's your name?"

Hyuuga Neji. Sasuke remembered him, he's that pain in the ass cousin of Hinata. Sasuke grew up in the Hyuuga compounds long enough to know about the history between the main and the branch. He often sees Neji around the branch households, but Neji never seemed to be interested or paid any attention to the Uchiha. Sasuke clinched his fist, he was holding back the urge to punch this bastard in the face. Neji was the cause of Hinata's low self-esteem, and confidence, when ever Sasuke was out training, he would return to see a crying Hinata, sobbing by herself while Neji talk down on how pathetic she was. Of course Sasuke wasn't allowed to lay a finger on him, if he did, he would get kicked out of the Hyuuga household.

"when you want to learn someone's name, you should give yours first." Sasuke was being arrogant, but someone like Neji shouldn't act too cooky either.

"You're a rookie right? How old are you?"

"I don't have to answer you." and they both parted. The less he interact with this guy, the more control he has over his anger.

"Naruto! Sasuke-kun, let's go!" Sakura's energy returned to her, Sasuke guessed her battery just finished charging.

"Don't pull me." he was glad for her though. Naruto was being neglected from the previous encounter, but he didn't seem to get too worked up over it.

"Hey, guy with the dark eyes." a voice approached them from above. Everyone looked up.

"What is it?"

"Will you fight me right here?" it was Lee.

Hinata and her team-mates were one of the first rookies to arrive room 301, they didn't expect so many participants for the Chuunin exams. Hinata grew nervous, everyone gave her glares and weird looks, their gaze showed they won't hesitate to kill.

"Hinata, are you alright?" Kiba gave a light pat on her shoulder, Hinata's breathing gradually calmed down.

"Y-Ya, I-I'm fine." she forced a smile on her face.

"Hn? There's an empty seat, let's go." Kiba notified them.

_I wonder where's Sasuke, it's almost time for the exam to start._

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><p>Lee's powerful kick sent Sasuke flying across the room He was so sure he would had blocked that attack, something wasn't right for him, did that boy used ninjutsu? Or was it genjutsu. Sasuke smirked to himself, he underestimated Lee, he quickly got back to his feet. Sasuke wiped the blood from his lips and activated his Sharingan. It felt good to be using the Sharingan, it made him feel in control. But of course he was over confident, he thought the activating the Sharingan would let him read Lee's attacks, but he was too naïve. Lee gave him an uppercut with his leg. Sasuke levitate in mid air, his boy couldn't react fast enough and Lee settled himself under him.<p>

"Even if you can read my movements with your eyes, your body does not have the speed to react to my taijutsu. Basically, even If you can see it. If your body can't move then it's useless." Lee explained his motives and techniques, Sasuke wasn't sure how to react, his body just wouldn't move. Sasuke braced for the worse.

"That's enough Lee!" a voice interrupted, Lee's loose bandages were pinned to the wall and tugged him away from Sasuke. Sakura acted quickly, softened Sasuke's land before he break his back. Everything was a mess, no one knew what was going on. A tutrle? This has to be a joke. While Lee was having a conversation with his turtle mentor, Sasuke gathered himself together.

"Geez! You guys are the epitome of adolescence!" a cloud of smoke cleared away to revealed a man, who looked awfully a lot like Lee in a joinin's vest. He stood on top of the turtle in the most ridiculous pose ever. Of course the whole team was stunned and disgusted at the same time, that man was wearing the same tight body suit as Lee, it wasn't a pleasant scene at all.

"Ewwww! He's got even thicker eyebrows!" Naruto burst out.

"Super thick." Sasuke commented.

"Super weird" Sakura added.

"Those are incredible eyebrows...I've never seen that before." Naruto said. Lee was outraged from the rude insults. It can't be helped really, they've encountered two weird looking ninjas before the exam even begin!

"Lee"

"yes?"

'You fool!" another punch in the mind for the trio, Lee just received a painful blow from his mentor, are they even allowed to beat their students? Sasuke was speechless, Sakura was too confused for words and Naruto was just dumbfounded. Lee and his mentor exchanged looks and some how, the scene turned emotional as they hugged each other in a sea of tears. Sasuke was astonished the most, how did he lose to him? It was too embarrassing, too humiliating. Somehow he was relieved Naruto was knocked before he could see how beat up Sasuke was.

"Hey you guys, how's Kakashi-sensei doing?" Kakashi? How did he know Kakashi?

"You know Kakashi?"

"Know him? Hehe" the man grinned mischievously.

"People refer to us as 'eternal rivals'". He was gone, and right behind them. This guy, when did he, how did he move so fast? Sasuke wondered.

"I'm stronger than Kakashi." he said. Sasuke was still in disbelief, there is no way anyone can beat Kakashi's speed, Kakashi was seen as the fastest ninja Sasuke know. He grew frustrated, someone has the strength above Kakashi? Impossible. Lee's final words made him agitated, it wasn't direct towards Lee but himself.

"Sasuke-kun-"

"Oh well...The uchiha clan isn't worth much these days." what Naruto said pierced through Sasuke's shield, what does he know? He spent all his lives playing pranks, how dare he say such thing about Sasuke and his clan.

"...shut up... Next time, I'll beat him."

"Sure, you just got your ass kicked." says the one who had his ass kicked before Sasuke.

"You saw his hands too, that thick brow must have trained really hard...everyday, more than you, that's all it is." Naruto was right, Sasuke hate it when Naruto's right. Sasuke was always in his own little world, like a frog in a well. But there is one thing Sasuke never lack, and that's confidence. He smirked to himself with an intense glare.

"This thing is getting fun, this chuunin exam..."

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><p>Hinata nervously fidget her fingers, some of the ninjas were staring at her. Of course it wasn't because she was Konoha's flower, but she inherited Konoha's Jewel. The Byakugan. Her eyes shifted with unease.<p>

"K-Kiba-kun."Hinata kept a close distance to her team mate, Kiba, who she viewed as fearless.

"Oh, is that who I think it is?" Kiba sprinted to a group of young rookies. Hinata spotted team 7, Naruto's striking blonde hair is hard to miss from any distance.

"Yahoo! Found you!" Kiba shove his hands into his pockets as they approached the others.

"H-Hello." Hinata smiled tiredly. Sasuke casually looked over. Hinata gave a little nod when their eyes met. Sasuke couldn't help but smile to himself, the sight of Hinata ahead of him was a good one.

"Well well, everyone is assembled." Kiba looked around.

"geez...you guys too?" Shikamaru sigh with laziness.

"I see...all 9 of this year's rookie genin are taking the exam. I wonder how far we will get...right, Sasuke-kun?" Kiba definitely said it with strong sarcasm. He was one of the only people in the whole of Konoha that knows about Sasuke relationship with Hinata. And of course he knows why Sasuke and Hinata are keeping their friendship a secret.

"Pft...you seem confident, Kiba." Sasuke snickered.

"We did a lot of training, we won't lose to you." Kiba said with full confidence, he's the kind of person that won't back down easily.

"Shit up! Sasuke might, but I won't lose to the likes of you!" Naruto's bark was louder than his bite. Everyone knows he's no match for Kiba. Sasuke noticed Hinata stepped out behind Kiba.

"Sorry, Naruto-kun...Kiba-kun didn't mean it in that way..." Hinata spoke in a soft voice.

"Huh?" It was obvious to everyone that Hinata has a crush on him, the shy girl wouldn't stop fidgeting while avoiding any eye contact with Naruto.

_Idiot..._

Sasuke gave Naruto a look, which confused him even more of course.

"What?" Naruto asked

"Your existence annoys me...I'm curious as you why you're not dead yet." Sasuke snared sarcastically. Was he trying to pick a fight with Naruto?

"What?! You son of a b-"

"You guys should be more quiet" A man in glasses interrupted them.

(I'm gonna skip what comes after this part, if I add it in, it's gonna be too long and ridiculously boring...)

Naruto's outburst made him the center of attention, only an idiot like him would want to be in the spotlight full of ninjas with major killing intent. The commotion he made almost cost Kabuto his life. It wasn't until the examiners entered the classroom in a blast of smoke. The test started off with Morino Ibiki's entrance. While everyone had their attention to him, Sasuke took and planted himself next to Hinata.

"Sit next to me in the exam." he whispered to her ear. It's too dangerous for her to sit anywhere else, especially since they didn't know what the next was going to be about. That was what he thought...

"You'll pick one of this tabs and sit in the seat assigned to you. We will then hand out the exams." Ibiki explained.

"che" Sasuke glared at the examiner.

"D-Don't worry, Sasuke. I'll be fine. I'll see you at the 2nd test then." Hinata waved goodbye as she walked over to pick a tab. 52. Sasuke prayed, if there is a god he believed in, that he would get 53.

"Next team." Sasuke and co reached into the box. Sasuke started chanting the number in his head as he pulled the tab out.

"I'm 53!" Naruto called out. Sasuke's seat was the furthest away from the rest of the team, Sakura being the closest.

"Test, begin!" everyone started scribbling.

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><p>Sorry for the huge disappointment! I promise you it'll get better soon!<p> 


	9. Chunun, Part B

Hey Guys!

I saw a post on tumblr about updating fanfics and I though "Maybe I should start updating too..."

Thanks so much for the reviews! I'm SOOOOOO sorry for not updating! (to the point of neglecting this fic!), I'm kind of procrastinating right now xD So instead of continuing my old fics, I started new ones OAO (It's on tumblr! Please read if interested :)- .com)

please don't hate me O^O I'm also having the bad case of writer's block . It comes and goes T^T

Anyways, without further ado, here's the next chapter, enjoy!

Note: I'll be skipping a huge part of the Chunnin exam, I have a feeling it's going get too draggy if I don't xD Also, I suggest you skip the first half of this fic, I find it quite boring to read xD

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto~

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><p>The second test had just started and team 7 had already involved themselves in the slimiest situation possible. Escaping from the grass ninja was tiresome enough, now Sasuke and Sakura tries to flee themselves from the forest snakes. Sasuke, traumatized by the sneaky ninja, showered the snake with kunais and killed it instantly. Just to think he had a second to rest, a body emerged from the dead snake.<p>

"You guys shouldn't relax for even a moment. Prey should always be trying their best to run away...In the presence of a predator, That is..." he quickly slimmed his body around the surrounding tree trunks , until Naruto stopped his tacks with shurikens.

"I forgot the code word!" Naruto stood high and mighty over his team mates and opponent.

After the sadistic death Kiba set for their enemies, Hinata scouted her surroundings with Byakugan.

"T-There's a group a few km from us, but they didn't seem to notice o-our presence so w-we're safe...for now." Hinata let out a sigh of relief.

"Let's go hunt down some ninjas, Akamaru!" Akamaru replied with a bark.

"Kiba, it isn't a good idea to charge towards an enemy without understand our surroundings." Shino spoke out of the blue.

"Isn't that called a surprise attack? An ambush even."

"I-I think S-Shino's right, w-we shouldn't rush into things t-that quickly." Hinata finished her sentence with a mumble.

"Geez, you guys are such cowards..." Kiba pouted with Akamaru on his head.

"K-kiba-" A loud scream echoed the forest, a scream full of fear and pain, every member of the team had goosebumps, it was the first time they've heard such terrified scream.

"Let's get going." Shino suggested.

_I hope you're alright, Sasuke. _ Hinata back to the direction of the scream, and slowly walked away.

Sasuke was buried in unbearable pain, the blood pumping through his body felt like lava melting his veins and piercing his senses.

"Sa-Sasuke-kun, Hang in there, Sasuke-kun!" Sakura's voice was too vague to hear, all Sasuke could hear was his own voice calling for help. Sakura intertwined her fingers with Sasuke's, hoping to help him ease his pain, but it was too much to bear as Sasuke fainted. Sakura, hopeless and weak could only cry to herself, no one in the forest is safe enough to ask for help, she's all alone. Even Naruto, who she found annoying and weak was knocked out.

_What should I do?! _

She thought to herself, what else could so do? Abandon her team-mates and ask for help? Or carry on as a one man's team. Sakura carried her team-mates to a safer location and tend to their care. After changing several damped cloth over Sasuke's forehead, his fever remained high. Naruto was knocked out cold, but nothing too serious tor medical attention compared to Sasuke. Time is running out, and so was Sakura's energy. She tried to keep herself from falling asleep, the enemy might ambush them at any moment. Before she knew, the worse has happened. The sound nins challenged to fight Sasuke, but now isn't the time. Sakura raised her kunai, trembling with fear. As the ninjas charged at her after disabling her trap, Sakura confidently activated a second one. (where does she get the strength to move a giant tree trunk?!) The trap was easily broken, Sakura felt completely useless at that moment, she could only think about her death. Saved by a gust of wind, knocked the sound ninjas away.

"Who are you?" one of them asked.

"The beautiful green beast of the leaf, Rock Lee."

"Ahh! We can't find any weak guys!" Ino started throwing her fists in the air. They just managed to escape from fighting against the fearsome Neji.

"As I said...The only guys weaker than us would probably be the Naruto team." Shikamaru snared.

"Idiot! What are you saying?! Sakura and Naruto are losers of course, but, they have the super genius Sasuke-kun!" Ino defended Sasuke, like any fan girl would.

"Bah, I don't know about that...geniuses can quickly crumble under the pressure of the real world." Shikamaru stated. He _is_ a genius himself, of course he understood.

"Ok ok, I'm sorry that I upset you." to avoid further argument, Shikamaru apologizes. Lost in his thoughts, he heard a loud rustling near by.

"I think someone's coming." He glanced over.

"Oh! I knew I smelt something familiar! It's you losers!" a bark followed by obnoxious tone approached them. Kiba and his team were just on their way to the tower.

"Oh, it's just you guys." Chouji sighed in relief.

"What's that suppose to mean?! Look! We've managed to get both scrolls! I don't see _you_ guys getting anywhere close!" Kiba juggled the scrolls between his hands.

"K-Kiba-kun, I-I don't think it's a good idea t-to do that." Hinata trembled.

"Stop being a show off, Kiba." Shina kept his hands in his pocket.

"Che, as if these weaklings could get it off us, they're as bad as Naruto!" Kiba laughed.

"What's that suppose to mean?!" Ino raised her fist at him.

"I don't think you're up for a match against Kiba there, Ino...if you haven't noticed, you're weak." Shikamaru whispered to her.

"I'm not! At least I'm stronger than billboard head Sakura!"

"Um guys, isn't that Sakura there fighting?" Chouji spoke out of the blues. Everyone turned their attention to the direction he pointed at. It's true that Sakura's in a battle, but it wasn't her battle, it was Lee defending her. Lying next to here were Sasuke and Naruto. Hinata used her Byakugan to have a closer look, Sasuke's chakra level rose uncontrollably, causing his body yo burn up. While Hinata was too focused on Sasuke and Naruto's condition, Lee was already on his knees, pressing against his bleeding ear. The hunched sound nin took this chance and charged against Sakura, Lee continued to jump in front of her and attempt to attack, but was pushed back by multiple attacks.

"What was he thinking?!" Kiba blurted out. It was obvious enough they couldn't win against them. Sakura's shurikens were also blown away by air pressure. The female sound nin grabbed Sakura's milky hair with a tight grip.

"Much more luster than mine...this...pft, trying to be a sexy ninja?" she sneered.

"If you have time to treat your hair, then train, you female swine...Zaku, kill that Sasuke guy in front of this boy chasers eyes. Let's teach this one a lesson." her team mates agreed.

Shikamaru looked over to his team mates, he suggested they run, but Ino was reluctant, watching Sakura throwing all the weapons she have in her pouch at the enemies.

"Let's run-" Kiba was about to leave, but something, someone ran past him.

"H-Hinata?!" Kiba was shocked to see his team-mate, Hinata running towards Sakura and Zaku, who was almost reaching towards Sasuke. The shy, coward and weak Hinata just ran towards a death she could have avoided or even be involved with.

"Idiot! What are you doing?!" Kiba hissed at her, Shino tried to reach out to her, but his fingers slipped past her sleeve.

"What the-" Zaku received a full blow from Hinata's chakra punch. His other team mates watched their team mate flew away from a surprise attack. Sakura pulled out a kunai at that moment, she knew it's useless to try breaking free from her strong grip, pulling it close to her hair, she cut it off. Their team mates who were watching from the side were equally shocked by both Sakura and Hinata.

"Where the hell did she come from?!" Zaku wiped the blood off his lips. Hinata ignored him and attend to Sasuke and Naruto.

"Kin! Kill her!" Zaku cried out, then turned to Hinata.

"Don't just ignore me you wench." He dashed towards Hinata. Dosu, the team leader joined him and Hinata as Zaku turned away towards Kin. As Kin attacks, Zaku assists. Back with Hinata, she returned into a battle stance, a kunai in one hand and her byakugan activated.

"You asked for it." Dosu aimed his arm at her, Hinata was too slow to dodge the attack. His heavy weapon grazed her cheek, the effect emitting from his right forearm caused Hinata to fall back and throw up, just like Lee. She started coughing, choking in her own vomit. Dosu kicked her up in the air, letting her fall defenseless onto the hard floor, then grabbed her neck and held her up, strangling her, with the weapon in his arm still activated, he slowly tortured her.

"You're weak, so pathetic! Why did you even interfere?!" Dosu laughed sinisterly as he tightened his grip on her neck. Hinata struggled under his grip, she felt like her life was about to slip away from her.

_I-I can't let it end like this! N-Not now...S-Sasuke!_

She was helpless, and so was Sakura, who was biting onto Zaku's arm while pounding against her skull. Their team mates on the other side of the battle field looked helpless, the sound ninjas were out of their league.

"We've got to help them!" Kiba barked at the other team. Shikamaru and Chouji looked over to the stunned Ino.

"Che! I'm not going to watch my team mate die! Let's go! Akamaru, Shino!" Kiba dashed out from the bush towards Dosu, while Ino, Shikamaru and Chouji went towards Sakura's side before Zaku could attack again. The team fend off Zaku and Kin, while Kiba and Shino headed towards Dosu.

"Let go of Hinata!" Kiba held his sharpen nails out to scratch Dosu, who released Hinata and block Kiba's attacks.

"K-Kiba-kun! S-Shino-kun!" She called out between coughs for air.

"Leave it to us, Hinata. Let's go, Akamaru! Gatsuga!" Kiba transformed Akamaru into himself and they rage towards Dosu, Shino stood in front of Hinata, released his insects to trap the enemy.

"Hinata, look after Sasuke and Naruto." Hinata nodded back to Shino. Hinata took out all of her medical kit, ointments and cooling packs.

_Please be alright, Sasuke...Naruto._ She rubbed some ointments on his wounds, then quickly to Sasuke.

_His chakra level are too abnormal, w-what should I do?!_

"S-Sasuke, w-wake up!" She whispered to him.

"Bah, I can't take this anymore." a familiar voice caught everyone's attention. Above them stood Neji and Ten ten, watching down at them.

"Some minor sound nins bullying these...second rate ninjas and declaring victory?" Neji spoke in a mocking tone.

_N-Neji-nii-san?!_

"That knocked out freak right there is from out team...and you're going to pay for that." with just those words, Neji made the sound nins feel fear, the whole rookie nine of Konoha didn't even manage to send a single chill down their body, but Neji did.

"Hehe...If you don't like it so much, then stop acting cool and come down here." Dosu mocked him. Hinata felt someone squeezing her arm, it was hot and burning against her skin.

"It seems, that won't be necessary." Neji backed down. Hinata looked next to her, weird chakra were forming around.

"S-Sasuke!" Hinata looked over, her childhood friend finally woke up from his slumber, but something doesn't feel right about him, he felt dark, not the person Hinata recognize anymore.

"Sasuke-kun! You're awake!" Sakura was happy to see Sasuke, but even then she noticed something was off. Sasuke's tight grip released Hinata's hands, but left a mark behind.

"S-Sasuk-"

"Hinata, Sakura...Who did that to you?"

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><p>Phew! Finally finished it (took me the whole day!) Sorry if it's long! I hope you guys weren't bored to death xD I tried to keep everything in track without changing too much, I hope I didn't butchered it D: I'll try harder to upload again! Thanks for reading :)<p> 


	10. Stop

Thank you everyone for the reviews! I feel more motivated to update now xD

It's a REALLY REEEEAAALLLYYY short chapter, but I hope you guys will like it!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto!

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><p>Surrounded by strange fumes, Sasuke stood tall and confident with strange marks tattooed over his skin and his sharingan activated.<p>

"Sasuke-kun, you body." Sakura curiously asked. Hinata sensed something was wrong, the one standing in front of her wasn't the Sasuke she knew. Sasuke looked down at his powers resting in his arms and smirked.

"Don't worry, not only that I feel power overflowing from within me...I feel...great." He looked over at Hinata.

"He gave it to me. I finally understand it, I am an avenger." then over at Zaku.

"Even if I must eat the devil's fruit, I am on a path where I must gain power." Sasuke spoke in a deeper voice, the then looked over to the sound nins with only revenge in his eyes.

"now...it was your guys right?" he glared at them. Shikamaru quickly fled with Chouji and Ino escaped her hostage's body before she was in further danger. Sasuke was angry, the tattoos around his body floated around his skin, more chakra flowed from him, it was intense. Zaku was the first to break, he attacked Sasuke with explosive sound waves, everyone was sent flying back and braced for their lives. Zaku smirked with confidence that Sasuke and his team-mates had disintegrated.

"Blown who away?" Sasuke appeared behind him, with the unconscious Naruto, wounded Sakura and shocked Hinata by his side. With a simple movement, he wiped Zaku away like a fly. Sasuke made some simple hand signs, he spat fire balls towards Zaku; who doesn't seemed to feel too disturbed, tried to blow the flames away, only to be surprised by shurikens. As it shredded through this clothes and skin, Sasuke took this chance to sneak up behind him. Sasuke grabbed a hold of Zaku's arms backwards, he set Zaku on his knees in an uncomfortable position, then set his foot on his back. Everyone was shocked to the foreign Sasuke in front of them, Sakura and Ino begun to question themselves as well.

"Hehe, you're so proud of these two arms?" Sasuke gave him sinister laugh, he pulled Zaku's arm and pushed his back forward with his foot until a loud skin crawling snap was heard. Zaku was left disabled, the only member left standing was Dosu.

"S-Sasuke." Hinata coughed, she tried to reach out to him, but the hit she received from Zaku was quite a punch. Sasuke made his way slowing towards the frightened Dosu, Hinata coughed out more blood, but brushed off the pain from her stomach.

"S-Sasuke, Stop!" Hinata screamed at the top of her lungs, she finally got up from her feet and wanted to run towards her childhood friend, but it seemed Sakura beat her to it. Sakura embraced Sasuke from behind, tightened her grip and held him close to her.

"Sasuke, stop." Sakura mumbled to him. Sasuke stared back at the crying Sakura, who refused to let him go. Effectively, Sasuke's marks reduced, along with his strange chakra. Sakura caught him as he fell back, weak on his feet.

"You're strong, Sasuke-kun...we can't defeat you this time." Dosu drew out the earth scroll and placed it on the ground.

"Here's a gift to you, please let us leave." Dosu struggled to pick up the unconscious Zaku.

"This may seem convenient, but there is something we must find out now. I will promise you this, if there is another situation where we will meet in this exam, we will neither run nor hide." Dosu went over and picked up the wounded Kin as well, weakly dragged their body away. Sasuke would pursue them, but he was exhausted from the inconsistent chakra level.

"Wait!" Sakura spoke out first.

"Who is Orochimaru?! What did he do to Sasuke-kun?! Why to Sasuke-kun?!" Hinata, who had been by Naruto's side looked over at Sasuke.

_Orochimaru? _Hinata wondered

"I don't know, we merely ordered to kill Sasuke-kun." Dosu replied honestly before he left the scene.

Shikamaru and Chouji rushed to Naruto and Hinata, Sakura stayed by Sasuke's side.

"What happened to..." Sasuke's hands trembled. Hinata let out a sigh of relief, she was glad Sasuke's alright now. She hessitated to give Sasuke a hug, the whole rookie 9's around, she doesn't want to ruin Sasuke's reputation any further.

"S-Sas-" Hinata was interrupted.

"Gyaaaaa!" Naruto woke up I a scream, Chouji had hit him hard with a branch.

"Everyone hide! no, get down now! Where did that guy go?!" Naruto laid low on the ground, everyone else just looked at him speechless.

"What are you doing?" Kiba looked over at him with Shino standing silently next to him and Akamaru under his jacket.

"N-Naruto-kun, I'm glad you're alright." Hinata moved next to him.

"Oh, Hinata-chan! Why are you here?" Naruto was a little surprised to see her, but his immediately turned towards Sakura and Sasuke, Naruto quickly got to his feet, he left Hinata behind and ran towards them energetically.

"Sakura-chan, your hair!" Hinata forced a reluctant smile on her face when Naruto quickly changed his attention to his crush. Sakura started making up excuses about her short hair, she hoped Naruto wouldn't know about it.

"By the way, why are you guys here?" Naruto looked over at the other team.

"You're an idiot, you know that?" Kiba snickered followed buy Akamaru's mock bark.

"They came to save us." Sakura glanced over to Ino. Out of the blue, Tenten, Neji's team-mate came to collect Lee, she vulgarly shook Lee like a rag doll, which was effective.

"Nnn? Tenten, why are you here?" Lee woke up.

"we came to save you!" Tenten explained about the situation to her wounded team-mate. While the others were busy with their chatting and concerns for each other (Sakura taught Naruto a lesson about manners), Hinata didn't want to interrupt them, she quietly hid from the others to treat her wounds. Sasuke took this chance and made his way towards Hinata.

"Are you alright?" Hinata stayed on the ground, she was tired, and nodded back.

"I-I'm glad you're alright. S-Sakura-san did a g-good job looking after you." Hinata gripped held back her urge to hug him.

"Ya...I guess." Sasuke looked down at the the still trembling Hinata who was still shocked.

"Are you alright?" Sasuke reached out to her, but Hinata fidget when Sasuke almost touched her, she looked back at Sasuke with fear in her eyes.

"Are you...y-you're, S-Sasuke...right?" Hinata asked with uncertainty.

"What are you talking about?" Sasuke was confused, he crouched down to the same level at Hinata and stared right into her eyes, who stared back without blinking. Hinata broke down in tears, she pulled Sasuke to her without a word, just cried and never wanted to let him go. Sasuke didn't know what to do but to gently pat her head.

"What has gotten in to you?" Sasuke sighed as he continued to stroke her head. Hinata looked back up at him, just to make sure he was Sasuke again.

"Don't cry anymore, we're in the middle of an exam." Sasuke brushed her tears away.

"I'm so glad you're fine."Hinata buried her face in his shirt this time, Sasuke felt warm tickle in his body and smiled. They stayed like that for awhile until Kiba called out to them.

"We'll be heading off you, see you at the tower, if you guys survive that is." Kiba snickered and ran off with Akamaru.

"G-Good luck!" Hinata gave a polite bow before disappearing.

"I was forgotten again." Shino finally followed them. The rest of the team wondered if his random comment was necessary. The teams went back to their individual mission.

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><p>I'm getting cheesierand very corney aren't I Orz<p>

Thank you for reading! It took me the whole day to type it out! (I was distracted by kittens on animal planet...don't judge me!) I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I will try better next time to write a longer and better chapter :D


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